Medical Term: Zippers, Leucine | Leucine Zippers defined
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What is Zippers, Leucine | Leucine Zippers?
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Term Definition: DNA-binding motifs formed from two alpha-helixes which intertwine for about eight turns into a coiled coil and then bifurcate to form Y shaped structures. Leucines occurring in heptad repeats end up on the same sides of the helixes and are adjacent to each other in the stem of the Y (the "zipper" region). The DNA-binding residues are located in the bifurcated region of the Y.