title: The leucine-rich repeat structure.
abstract: The leucine-rich repeat is a widespread structural motif of 20-30 amino acids with a characteristic repetitive sequence pattern rich in leucines. Leucine-rich repeat domains are built from tandems of two or more repeats and form curved solenoid structures that are particularly suitable for protein-protein interactions. Thousands of protein sequences containing leucine-rich repeats have been identified by automatic annotation methods. Three-dimensional structures of leucine-rich repeat domains determined to date reveal a degree of structural variability that translates into the considerable functional versatility of this protein superfamily. As the essential structural principles become well established, the leucine-rich repeat architecture is emerging as an attractive framework for structural prediction and protein engineering. This review presents an update of the current understanding of leucine-rich repeat structure at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels and discusses specific examples from recently determined three-dimensional structures.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. jordi.bella@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bella
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hindle
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McEwan
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lovell
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D006801:Humans; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D011506:Proteins