The structure of the tetratricopeptide repeats of protein phosphatase 5: implications for TPR-mediated protein-protein interactions

EMBO J. 1998 Mar 2;17(5):1192-9. doi: 10.1093/emboj/17.5.1192.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 14-3-3 Proteins
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nuclear Proteins / chemistry*
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / chemistry*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary*
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase*

Substances

  • 14-3-3 Proteins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Peptides
  • Proteins
  • Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases
  • protein phosphatase 5

Associated data

  • PDB/1A17
  • PDB/R1A17SF