| Type: | Family | Name: | Transcription factor TFIIE, alpha subunit |
| Description: | Initiation of eukaryotic mRNA transcription requires melting of promoter DNA with the help of the general transcription factors TFIIE and TFIIH. In higher eukaryotes, the general transcription factor TFIIE consists of two subunits: the large alpha subunit () and the small beta (). TFIIE beta has been found to bind to the region where the promoter starts to open to be single-stranded upon transcription initiation by RNA polymerase II. The approximately 120-residue central core domain of TFIIE beta plays a role in double-stranded DNA binding of TFIIE [].The TFIIE beta central core DNA-binding domain consists of three helices with a beta hairpin at the C terminus, resembling the winged helix proteins. It shows a novel double-stranded DNA-binding activity where the DNA-binding surface locates on the opposite side to the previously reported winged helix motif by forming a positively charged furrow [].This entry represents the conserved amino terminal region of eukaryotic TFIIE-alpha and proteins from archaebacteria (TFE) that are also presumed to be TFIIE-alpha subunits []. | Short Name: | TFIIE_asu |
