In biochemistry, the KIX domain (kinase-inducible domain (KID) interacting domain) or CREB binding domain is a
protein domain
In molecular biology, a protein domain is a region of a protein's polypeptide chain that is self-stabilizing and that folds independently from the rest. Each domain forms a compact folded three-dimensional structure. Many proteins consist o ...
of the
eukaryotic
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bact ...
transcriptional coactivators CBP and P300. It serves as a docking site for the formation of
heterodimer
In biochemistry, a protein dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually non-covalently bound. Many macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, form dimers. The word ''dimer'' has ...
s between the coactivator and specific
transcription factor
In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fu ...
s. Structurally, the KIX domain is a globular domain consisting of three α-helices and two short 3
10-helices.
The KIX domain was originally discovered in 1996 as the specific and minimal region in CBP that binds and interacts with phosphorylated CREB to activate transcription.
It was thus first termed CREB-binding domain. However, when it was later discovered that it also binds many other proteins, the more general name KIX domain became favoured. The KIX domain contains two separate binding sites: the "c-Myb site", named after the oncoprotein
c-Myb, and the "MLL site", named after the proto-oncogene MLL (Mixed Lineage Leukemia,
KMT2A).
The
paralogous coactivators CBP (
CREBBP) and P300 (
EP300
Histone acetyltransferase p300 also known as p300 HAT or E1A-associated protein p300 (where E1A = adenovirus early region 1A) also known as EP300 or p300 is an enzyme that, in humans, is encoded by the ''EP300'' gene. It functions as histone ac ...
) are recruited to
DNA-bound
transcription factor
In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fu ...
s to activate transcription. Coactivators can associate with
promoters and
enhancers in the DNA only indirectly through
protein-protein contacts with
transcription factor
In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fu ...
s. CBP and P300 activate transcription
synergistically in two ways: first, by remodelling and relaxing
chromatin
Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important ...
through their intrinsic
histone acetyltransferase
Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) are enzymes that acetylate conserved lysine amino acids on histone proteins by transferring an acetyl group from acetyl-CoA to form ε-''N''-acetyllysine. DNA is wrapped around histones, and, by transferring an ...
activity, and second, by recruiting the basal
transcription machinery, such as
RNA polymerase II
RNA polymerase II (RNAP II and Pol II) is a multiprotein complex that transcribes DNA into precursors of messenger RNA (mRNA) and most small nuclear RNA (snRNA) and microRNA. It is one of the three RNAP enzymes found in the nucleus of eukary ...
.
The KIX domain belongs to the proposed GACKIX domain superfamily. GACKIX comprises structurally and functionally highly homologous domains in related proteins. It is named after the protein GAL11 / ARC105 (
MED15), the plant protein CBP-like, and the KIX domain from CBP and P300.
Additional instances include
RECQL5 and related plant proteins.
All of these contain a KIX domain or KIX-related domain that interacts with the transactivation domain of many different transcription factors. The distinction between a KIX domain, a KIX-related domain and a GACKIX domain is subject to an ongoing debate and not clearly defined.
The full CBP/P300 protein

Aside from the KIX domain, CBP and P300 contain many other protein binding domains that should not be confused (numbers are
aa numberings):
* CH1/TAZ1 domain, CBP
47–433 P300
23-423ref name="Both UniProt">
UniProt
UniProt is a freely accessible database of protein sequence and functional information, many entries being derived from genome sequencing projects. It contains a large amount of information about the biological function of proteins derived fro ...
and
InterPro entry for CBP () and P300 ()
* KIX domain, CBP
87–666 P300
66–645ref name="Both UniProt"/>
*
Bromodomain, CBP
103–1175
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length  ...
P300
067–1139ref name="Both UniProt"/>
* CH2 domain (), CBP
191–1317 P300
155-1280
* HAT domain, CBP
323–1700 P300
287–1663ref name="Both UniProt"/>
* CH3/ZZ domain, CBP
701-1744 P300
664-1707ref name="Both UniProt"/>
* CH3/TAZ2 domain, CBP
765–1846 P300
728-1809ref name="Both UniProt"/>
* IRF-3 binding (i-BiD),
nuclear receptor coactivator binding (NCBD),
or SRC1 interaction domain (SID; ),
CBP
020-2113
The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...
P300
992-2098
All three CH (cysteine/histidine-rich) domains are
zinc finger
A zinc finger is a small protein structural motif that is characterized by the coordination of one or more zinc ions (Zn2+) in order to stabilize the fold. It was originally coined to describe the finger-like appearance of a hypothesized struct ...
s.
[
]
Interactions
Human and animal proteins:
Yeast proteins:
Viral proteins:
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
KIXBASE
a database of KIX-superfamily domains and PDB structures
HMM training dataset
Protein domains
Gene expression