The lipocalin protein family: structural and sequence overview.
Lipocalins are remarkably diverse at the sequence level yet have highly conserved structures. Most lipocalins share three characteristic conserved sequence motifs - the kernel lipocalins - while others are more divergent family members - the outlier lipocalins - typically sharing only one or two. This classification is a useful tool for analysing the family, and within these large sets are smaller groups sharing much higher levels of sequence similarity. The lipocalins are also part of a larger protein superfamily: the calycins, which includes the fatty acid binding proteins, avidins, a group of metalloproteinase inhibitors, and triabin. The superfamily is characterised by a similar structure (a repeated +1 topology beta-barrel) and by the conservation of a remarkable structural signature.
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The Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research, Newbury, Berkshire, UK. darren.flower@jenner.ac.uk
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D019476:Insect Proteins; D007782:Lactoglobulins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
D002352:Carrier Proteins; C107608:FABP7 protein, human; D000071438:Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 7; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D007782:Lactoglobulins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C053849:bilin-binding protein, insect