Purification and properties of yolk protein factor I, a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein from Drosophila melanogaster.

We report the purification and some of the biochemical properties of yolk protein factor I (YPF1). This protein binds to a specific site in the yolk protein 1 gene (yp1) of Drosophila melanogaster. YPF1 has been purified to 95% homogeneity and consists of a heterodimer of two subunits with molecular weights 85,000 and 69,000. The protein is highly asymmetric with a frictional ratio of 1.56 which leads to calculated dimensions of 510 x 51 A when modeled as a prolate ellipsoid of revolution. It binds the yp1 DNA site with a protein/DNA stoichiometry of 1:1. Binding to that site is essentially irreversible with a dissociation rate constant of koff less than or equal to 2 x 10(-7) s-1, which gives the complex a dissociation half-life of approximately 55 days. The measured apparent second order association rate constant is 4 x 10(8) M-1 s-1 resulting in a calculated equilibrium dissociation constant of KD less than or equal to 5 x 10(-16) M. YPF1 also has a 10(8) selectivity for the yp1 site over poly(dA).poly(dT) (KDapp = 2 x 10(-8) M(nucleotide].