Physical basis of a protein-DNA recognition code.

Can a stereochemical recognition code explain sequence-specific protein-nucleic acid interactions? Whereas a code that is generally applicable to DNA-binding proteins of all known structural families is unattainable, the indications are that a code can describe at least some of the interactions of classical zinc fingers with DNA. The crystal structures of related zinc finger-DNA complexes reveal a remarkable mode of interaction that sets the framework for this code, and recent biochemical studies have elucidated the intermolecular contacts (contingent on this framework) that result in specificity.