InterPro domain: IPR011129

A conserved domain of about 70 amino acids has been found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic single-strand nucleic-acid binding proteins [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. This domain, which is known as the 'cold-shock domain' (CSD) is present in the proteins listed below.

• Escherichia coli protein CS7.4 (gene cspA) which is induced in response to low temperature (cold-shock protein) and which binds to and stimulates the transcription of the CCAAT-containing promoters of the HN-S protein and of gyrA.
• Transcription termination factor Rho, a prokaryotic protein which facilitates transcription termination.
• Mammalian Y box binding protein 1 (YB1). A protein that binds to the CCAAT-containing Y box of mammalian HLA class II genes.
• Xenopus Y box binding proteins -1 and -2 (Y1 and Y2). Proteins that bind to the CCAAT-containing Y box of Xenopus hsp70 genes.
• Xenopus B box binding protein (YB3). YB3 binds the B box promoter element of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III.
• Enhancer factor I subunit A (EFI-A) (dbpB). A protein that also bind to CCAAT-motif in various gene promoters.
• DbpA, a human DNA-binding protein of unknown specificity.
• Bacillus subtilis cold-shock proteins cspB and cspC.
• Streptomyces clavuligerus protein SC 7.0.
• E. coli proteins cspB, cspC, cspD, cspE and cspF.
• Unr, a mammalian gene encoded upstream of the N-ras gene. Unr contains nine repeats that are similar to the CSD domain. The function of Unr is not yet known but it could be a multivalent DNA-binding protein.
• PPPin, a mammalian brain-specific protein that binds to histone mRNA and which is thought to play a role in the regulation of brain development.

1. The product of unr, the highly conserved gene upstream of N-ras, contains multiple repeats similar to the cold-shock domain (CSD), a putative DNA-binding motif. New Biol. 4, 389-95
2. Cold shock and DNA binding. Nature 344, 823-4
3. The cold-shock response--a hot topic. Mol. Microbiol. 11, 811-8
4. Crystal structure of the RNA-binding domain from transcription termination factor rho. Nat. Struct. Biol. 5, 352-6
5. PIPPin is a brain-specific protein that contains a cold-shock domain and binds specifically to H1 degrees and H3.3 mRNAs. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 24087-93