The tetratricopeptide repeat: a structural motif mediating protein-protein interactions

✍ Scribed by Gregory L. Blatch; Michael Lässle

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 167 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0265-9247
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199911)21:11<932::aid-bies5>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

The tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motif is a protein-protein interaction module found in multiple copies in a number of functionally different proteins that facilitates specific interactions with a partner protein(s). Three-dimensional structural data have shown that a TPR motif contains two antiparallel ␣-helices such that tandem arrays of TPR motifs generate a right-handed helical structure with an amphipathic channel that might accommodate the complementary region of a target protein. Most TPR-containing proteins are associated with multiprotein complexes, and there is extensive evidence indicating that TPR motifs are important to the functioning of chaperone, cell-cycle, transcription, and protein transport complexes. The TPR motif may represent an ancient protein-protein interaction module that has been recruited by different proteins and adapted for specific functions.