The BTB (for BR-C, ttk and bab) [1] or POZ (for Pox virus and Zinc finger) [2] domain is present near the N-terminus of a fraction of zinc finger (Pfam:PF00096) proteins and in proteins that contain the Pfam:PF01344 motif such as Kelch and a family o ...
The BTB (for BR-C, ttk and bab) [1] or POZ (for Pox virus and Zinc finger) [2] domain is present near the N-terminus of a fraction of zinc finger (Pfam:PF00096) proteins and in proteins that contain the Pfam:PF01344 motif such as Kelch and a family of pox virus proteins. The BTB/POZ domain mediates homomeric dimerisation and in some instances heteromeric dimerisation [2]. The structure of the dimerised PLZF BTB/POZ domain has been solved and consists of a tightly intertwined homodimer. The central scaffolding of the protein is made up of a cluster of alpha-helices flanked by short beta-sheets at both the top and bottom of the molecule [3]. POZ domains from several zinc finger proteins have been shown to mediate transcriptional repression and to interact with components of histone deacetylase co-repressor complexes including N-CoR and SMRT [4,5,6]. The POZ or BTB domain is also known as BR-C/Ttk or ZiN.