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The structure of calpain.
1Laboratory of Biological Function, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. ahsori@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Journal of Biochemistry
|May 1, 2001
Summary
Recent genomic and EST projects reveal numerous calpain gene homologues across 23 organisms. This review clarifies their identities, structures, functions, and evolutionary relationships, addressing current confusion in calpain research.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Genome and EST projects have rapidly identified new gene products.
- Calpain, a protease, has numerous identified homologues.
- Rapid progress has led to confusion regarding calpain molecule identities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To clarify the identities of all calpain homologues.
- To describe common and differing features of calpain homologues.
- To discuss the evolutionary process of calpain.
Main Methods:
- Database mining of genome and EST projects.
- Sequence similarity analysis to identify calpain homologues.
- Comparative analysis of structure-function relationships.
Main Results:
- 83 calpain genes from 23 organisms show similarity to conventional calpain.
- Significant sequence similarities identified in protease domains.
- Common and distinct structural and functional features among homologues.
Conclusions:
- Genomic data has expanded the calpain family significantly.
- Understanding calpain homologues is crucial for research.
- Further investigation into calpain evolution is warranted.