title: The structure of the tetratricopeptide repeats of protein phosphatase 5: implications for TPR-mediated protein-protein interactions.
abstract: The tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) is a degenerate 34 amino acid sequence identified in a wide variety of proteins, present in tandem arrays of 3-16 motifs, which form scaffolds to mediate protein-protein interactions and often the assembly of multiprotein complexes. TPR-containing proteins include the anaphase promoting complex (APC) subunits cdc16, cdc23 and cdc27, the NADPH oxidase subunit p67 phox, hsp90-binding immunophilins, transcription factors, the PKR protein kinase inhibitor, and peroxisomal and mitochondrial import proteins. Here, we report the crystal structure of the TPR domain of a protein phosphatase, PP5. Each of the three TPR motifs of this domain consist of a pair of antiparallel alpha-helices of equivalent length. Adjacent TPR motifs are packed together in a parallel arrangement such that a tandem TPR motif structure is composed of a regular series of antiparallel alpha-helices. The uniform angular and spatial arrangement of neighbouring alpha-helices defines a helical structure and creates an amphipathic groove. Multiple-TPR motif proteins would fold into a right-handed super-helical structure with a continuous helical groove suitable for the recognition of target proteins, hence defining a novel mechanism for protein recognition. The spatial arrangement of alpha-helices in the PP5-TPR domain is similar to those within 14-3-3 proteins.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, University of Oxford, Rex Richards Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barford
mesh_terms: D048948:14-3-3 Proteins; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000737:chemistry*; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
chemical_list: D048948:14-3-3 Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011506:Proteins; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; C089641:protein phosphatase 5