The PHD finger superfamily includes a canonical plant homeodomain (PHD) finger typically characterized as Cys4HisCys3, and a non-canonical extended PHD finger, characterized as Cys2HisCys5HisCys2His. Variations include the RAG2 PHD finger characterized by Cys3His2Cys2His and the PHD finger 5 found in nuclear receptor-binding SET domain-containing proteins characterized by Cys4HisCys2His. The PHD finger is also termed LAP (leukemia-associated protein) motif or TTC (trithorax consensus) domain. Single or multiple copies of PHD fingers have been found in a variety of eukaryotic proteins involved in the control of gene transcription and chromatin dynamics. PHD fingers can recognize the unmodified and modified histone H3 tail, and some have been found to interact with non-histone proteins. They also function as epigenome readers controlling gene expression through molecular recruitment of multi-protein complexes of chromatin regulators and transcription factors. The PHD finger domain SF is structurally similar to the RING and FYVE_like superfamilies.
Structure:4NN2; Human Borjeson-Forssman-Lehmann syndrome-associated protein PHF6 binds three Zn2+ ions through its ePHD finger. - View structure with Cn3D
Comment:The extended PHD finger, characterized by Cys2HisCys5HisCys2His, binds three Zn ions - two of the sites are conserved in other PHD fingers.