The structures of non-CG-repeat Z-DNAs co-crystallized with the Z-DNA-binding domain, hZα_ADAR1

The Z-DNA conformation preferentially occurs at alternating purine-pyrimidine repeats, and is specifically recognized by Zα domains identified in several Z-DNA-binding proteins. The binding of Zα to foreign or chromosomal DNA in various sequence contexts is known to influence various biological functions, including the DNA-mediated innate immune response and transcriptional modulation of gene expression. For these reasons, understanding its binding mode and the conformational diversity of Zα bound Z-DNAs is of considerable importance. However, structural studies of Zα bound Z-DNA have been mostly limited to standard CG-repeat DNAs. Here, we have solved the crystal structures of three representative non-CG repeat DNAs, d(CACGTG)₂, d(CGTACG)₂ and d(CGGCCG)₂ complexed to hZα_ADAR1 and compared those structures with that of hZα_ADAR1/d(CGCGCG)₂ and the Zα-free Z-DNAs. hZα_ADAR1 bound to each of the three Z-DNAs showed a well conserved binding mode with very limited structural deviation irrespective of the DNA sequence, although varying numbers of residues were in contact with Z-DNA. Z-DNAs display less structural alterations in the Zα-bound state than in their free form, thereby suggesting that conformational diversities of Z-DNAs are restrained by the binding pocket of Zα. These data suggest that Z-DNAs are recognized by Zα through common conformational features regardless of the sequence and structural alterations.