title: Centrins in unicellular organisms: functional diversity and specialization.
abstract: Centrins (also known as caltractins) are conserved, EF hand-containing proteins ubiquitously found in eukaryotes. Similar to calmodulins, the calcium-binding EF hands in centrins fold into two structurally similar domains separated by an alpha-helical linker region, shaping like a dumbbell. The small size (15-22 kDa) and domain organization of centrins and their functional diversity/specialization make them an ideal system to study protein structure-function relationship. Here, we review the work on centrins with a focus on their structures and functions characterized in unicellular organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cynthia Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002923:Cilia / Q000378:metabolism; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D022101:Microtubule-Organizing Center / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins