Methods and compositions for linking binding domains in nucleic acid binding proteins

Abstract From the Canadian patent

We describe a method of producing a modified nucleic acid binding polypeptide the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a nucleic acid binding polypeptide comprising a plurality of nucleic acid binding modules; (b) selecting a first binding domain consisting of one or two contiguous nucleic acid binding modules; (c) selecting a second binding domain consisting of one or two contiguous nucleic acid binding modules; and (d) introducing a flexible linker sequence to link the first and second binding domains the flexible , linker sequence comprising five or more amino acid residues. Use of structured linkers, alone or in combination with flexible linkers is also disclosed.