Word.ws English Dictionary

helix-turn-helix

helix-turn-helix noun: a structural motif where two alpha helices are joined by a short amino acid loop, frequently acting as a DNA binding site.

helix-turn-helix: a structural motif where two alpha helices are joined by a short amino acid loop, frequently acting...
Image: Zephyris, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

helix-turn-helix (usually uncountable, plural helix-turn-helices)

  1. (usually) A structural motif where two alpha helices are joined by a short amino acid loop, frequently acting as a DNA binding site.

Forms of helix-turn-helix

pluralhelix-turn-helices

Origin of helix-turn-helix

From helix + turn + helix. The term got its name from its distinct physical geometry; two alpha helices separated by a short amino acid sequence connecting the helices, where one helix recognizes and binds to a specific sequence in DNA.

Questions about helix-turn-helix

What does helix-turn-helix mean?
Helix-turn-helix means a structural motif where two alpha helices are joined by a short amino acid loop, frequently acting as a DNA binding site.
What part of speech is helix-turn-helix?
Helix-turn-helix is a noun.
What is the plural of helix-turn-helix?
The plural of helix-turn-helix is helix-turn-helices.

Words near helix-turn-helix in the dictionary

  1. heliums
  2. helix
  3. helix-loop-helices
  4. helix-loop-helix
  5. helix-turn-helices
  6. helix-turn-helix
  7. helixase
  8. helixed
  9. helixes
  10. helixing
  11. helixlike

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: helix-turn-helix (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “helix-turn-helix.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/helix-turn-helix. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.