NMR structure of the mengovirus Leader protein zinc-finger domain

The Leader protein is a defining feature of picornaviruses from the Cardiovirus genus. This protein was recently shown to inhibit cellular nucleocytoplasmic transport through an activity mapped to its zinc-binding region. Here we report the three-dimensional solution structure determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of this domain (residues 5–28) from mengovirus. The domain forms a CHCC zinc-finger with a fold comprising a β-hairpin followed by a short α-helix that can adopt two different conformations. This structure is divergent from those of other eukaryotic zinc-fingers and instead resembles motifs found in a group of DNA-binding proteins from Archaea.