Abstract
The active and inactive structures of the Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein (CRP), a model bacterial transcr!ption
factor, are compared to generate a paradigm in the cAMP-induced activation of CRP. The resulting paradigm is shown to be
consistent with numerous biochemical studies of CRP and CRP*, a group of CRP mutants displaying cAMP-free activity.
The cAMP affinity of CRP is dictated by two factors: (i) the effectiveness of the cAMP pocket and (ii) the protein equilibrium
of apo-CRP. How these two factors interplay in determining the cAMP affinity and cAMP specificity of CRP and CRP*
mutants are discussed. Both the current understanding and knowledge gaps of CRP-DNA interactions are also described.
This review ends with a list of several important CRP issues that need to be addressed in the future.
Citations
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