Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Creating and Applying a Reference to Facilitate the Discussion and Classification of Proteins in a Diverse Group
Published on: August 16, 2017
Sequence analysis shows that Lifeguard belongs to a new evolutionarily conserved cytoprotective family
Kerstin Reimers1, Claudia Y-U Choi, Eddy Mau-Thek
1Klinik für Plastische, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, D-30659 Hannover, Germany. reimers.kerstin@mh-hannover.de
Abstract:
Cellular sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli is determined by several regulatory proteins. The biological and biomedical impact of these regulatory proteins is of fundamental importance for understanding and controlling apoptotic processes. We used a bioinformatic approach to characterise the antiapoptotic protein Lifeguard (LFG). LFG is an evolutionarily well-conserved protein with homologues in many species. Due to its hydrophobic nature it is predicted to reside in cellular membranes, namely the endoplasmatic reticulum and the plasma membrane, with seven transmembrane spanners and a small cytoplasmic domain. The consensus motif of a protein family with unknown function UPF0005 was found in the C-terminus. The structure of Lifeguard resembles the antiapoptotic protein Bax Inhibitor-1 (BI-1). Concordantly, it was shown that Bax co-immunoprecipitates with LFG. Our results indicate that LFG belongs to a new cytoprotective family with evolutionarily conserved functions in the prevention of programmed cell death.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
Protein Families
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Cis-regulatory Sequences

