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The lipocalin protein family: structure and function

D R Flower1

  • 1Department of Physical Chemistry and BioAnalysis, Astra Charnwood, Loughborough, Leics, U.K.

The Biochemical Journal
|August 15, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Lipocalins are diverse extracellular proteins with a conserved structure, enabling varied functions like transport and immune modulation. Their structural similarity underlies their broad biological roles.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Structural Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Lipocalins are a large family of small extracellular proteins.
  • They exhibit sequence diversity but share conserved structural motifs and an eight-stranded beta-barrel structure.
  • Lipocalins, along with FABPs and avidins, belong to the calycins structural superfamily.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the structural conservation and functional diversity of the lipocalin protein family.
  • To understand the molecular-recognition properties that mediate lipocalin functions.
  • To highlight the broad biological roles of lipocalins beyond simple transport.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative sequence analysis to identify conserved motifs (kernel vs. outlier lipocalins).
  • Structural analysis of lipocalin crystal structures to reveal conserved beta-barrel architecture.
  • Functional analysis based on known roles in various biological processes.

Main Results:

  • Most lipocalins share three conserved motifs, while outliers share only one, despite sequence divergence.
  • Lipocalin crystal structures are highly conserved, featuring a characteristic antiparallel beta-barrel enclosing a ligand-binding site.
  • Lipocalins exhibit diverse functions including retinol transport, olfaction, pheromone transport, and immune modulation.

Conclusions:

  • Lipocalins possess conserved structural features that enable diverse molecular-recognition properties.
  • These properties facilitate a wide array of biological functions, challenging their traditional classification as solely transport proteins.
  • The lipocalin family plays critical roles in cellular homeostasis, immune response, and compound clearance.

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