Publication Abstract from PubMed
IRF-3, a member of the interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family of transcription factors, functions as a molecular switch for antiviral activity. IRF-3 uses an autoinhibitory mechanism to suppress its transactivation potential in uninfected cells, and virus infection induces phosphorylation and activation of IRF-3 to initiate the antiviral responses. The crystal structure of the IRF-3 transactivation domain reveals a unique autoinhibitory mechanism, whereby the IRF association domain and the flanking autoinhibitory elements condense to form a hydrophobic core. The structure suggests that phosphorylation reorganizes the autoinhibitory elements, leading to unmasking of a hydrophobic active site and realignment of the DNA binding domain for transcriptional activation. IRF-3 exhibits marked structural and surface electrostatic potential similarity to the MH2 domain of the Smad protein family and the FHA domain, suggesting a common molecular mechanism of action among this superfamily of signaling mediators.
Crystal structure of IRF-3 reveals mechanism of autoinhibition and virus-induced phosphoactivation.,Qin BY, Liu C, Lam SS, Srinath H, Delston R, Correia JJ, Derynck R, Lin K Nat Struct Biol. 2003 Nov;10(11):913-21. Epub 2003 Oct 12. PMID:14555996[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
