Conserved Structural Motifs in Intracellular Trafficking Pathways: Structure of the γ COP Appendage Domain

• Autores: Gregory R. Hoffman, Ruth N. Collins, Peter B. Rahl
• Localización: Molecular cell, ISSN 1097-2765, Vol. 11, Nº 3, 2003, pág. 615
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The formation of coated vesicles is a fundamental step in many intracellular trafficking pathways. COPI and clathrin represent two important and distinct sets of vesicle coating machinery, involved primarily in mediating intra-Golgi and endocytic transport, respectively. Here we identify an important functional region at the carboxyl terminus of the γ subunit of the COPI complex (γCOP) and describe the X-ray crystal structure of this domain at 2.3 Å resolution. This domain of γCOP exhibits unexpected structural similarity to the carboxyl-terminal appendage domains of the α and β subunits of the AP2 adaptor proteins, integral components of clathrin-coated vesicles. The remarkable structural conservation exhibited by the γCOP appendage domain, coupled with functional data and primary sequence analysis, supports a model of COPI function with significant structural and mechanistic parallels to vesicular transport by the clathrin/AP2 system.