1H, 13C and 15N resonance assignment of a 114-residue fragment of Engrailed 2 homeoprotein, a partially disordered protein.

Engrailed 2 is a transcription factor belonging to the class of homeoproteins. These proteins possess a 60-residue DNA binding globular domain and play an important role in the early stages of development. We expressed and purified a 13.4 kDa fragment of Engrailed 2, which comprises a 54-residue N-terminal extension in addition to the homeodomain region. Almost all backbone and side-chain resonances have been assigned. The weak dispersion in the proton dimension of the (1)H-(15)N HSQC spectrum indicates the presence of disordered regions that do not belong to the homeodomain. This work is a first step toward the NMR investigation of the structure and dynamics of Engrailed 2 protein that contains a well-structured globular domain and partially disordered regions.