Dimerization interface of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins

摘要

The invention identifies an interface domain for interaction between two or more dimers of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (STAT) proteins formed between amino acid residues Gln8 (Q8), Ile12 (I12), and Leu15 (L15) of alpha helices 1 and 2, Met28 (M28) and Glu29 (E29) of alpha helix 3 of a first STAT protein partner of the dimer, and Leu77 (L77) and Leu78 (L78) in alpha helix 7 of a second STAT protein partner of the dimer. The interface domain is useful for designing and identifying compounds capable of enhancing or inhibiting binding between STAT protein dimers and/or DNA binding sites, and thus useful for identifying compounds able to modulate STAT protein dimer-dimer induction of gene expression.