Title: zinc finger
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - zinc finger
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11391
Status: current

Definition
Small tertiary protein structure in which parts of the protein, typically with cysteine and histidine residues, link to a divalent zinc ion, forming a loop or "finger" that attaches proteins to DNA.

Note
A zinc finger is present in many proteins, such as nucleases or transcription factors that regulate expression of eukaryotic genes.

Related Term
- transcription factor: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11311

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 822 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11391/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11391/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11391/xml

Citation: Citation: 'zinc finger' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11391
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-28T09:55:39+00:00