OCRE: a novel domain made of imperfect, aromatic-rich octamer repeats

In this study, we describe a novel domain, OCRE, which is shared by the recently identified angiogenic factor VG5Q and a specific family of RNA-binding motif proteins. The OCRE domain is characterized by a 5-fold, imperfectly repeated octameric sequence, which includes a triplet of often-conserved aromatic amino acids predicted to form a beta-strand and in which the slightly modified fifth repeat might act as a repeat terminator. Although the function of this domain remains to be elucidated, the domain architecture of OCRE containing proteins and experimental data suggest a role in RNA metabolism and/or in signalling pathways activated by the tumor necrosis factor superfamily of cytokines.