Substitution rates in alpha-helical transmembrane proteins.

ABSTRACT: It has been shown previously that some membrane proteins have a conserved core of amino acid residues. This idea not only serves to orient helices during model building exercises but may also provide insight into the structural role of residues mediating helix-helix interactions. Using experimentally determined high-resolution structures of alpha-helical transmembrane proteins we show that, of the residues within the hydrophobic transmembrane spans, the residues at lipid and subunit interfaces are more evolutionarily variable than those within the lipid-inaccessible core of a polypeptide's transmembrane domain. This supports the idea that helix-helix interactions within the same polypeptide chain and those at the interface between different polypeptide chains may arise in distinct ways. To

SUBMITTER: Stevens TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2374033 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature