The cadherins are a major class of membrane proteins with prominent roles in cell adhesion, and the regulation of tissue organisation and morphogenesis. The C. elegans genome encodes 13 cadherins, including representatives of the major cadherin sub-types that are conserved between insects and vertebrates: the so-called classic, Fat-like, Flamingo and calsyntenin classes. The function of most of...

Several members of tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily that these members activate caspase-8 from death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) in TNF ligand-receptor signal transduction have been identified. In the extrinsic pathway, apoptotic signal transduction is induced in death domain (DD) superfamily; it consists of a hexahelical bundle that contains 80 amino acids. The DD superf...

Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) belong to the superfamily of transforming growth factor β that is highly expressed in growing ovarian follicles of oocyte, and it has been strongly related to fecundity traits in sheep. Therefore, the GDF9 gene could serve as a genetic marker for improvement of reproductive performance in sheep. Therefore, the aim of this study was to invest...

The major facilitator superfamily (MFS) is one of the two largest families of membrane transporters found on Earth. It is present ubiquitously in bacteria, archaea, and eukarya and includes members that can function by solute uniport, solute/cation symport, solute/cation antiport and/or solute/solute antiport with inwardly and/or outwardly directed polarity. All homologous MFS protein sequences...

The origin of the p53 superfamily predates animal evolution and first appears in unicellular Flagellates. Invertebrate p53 superfamily members appear to have a p63-like domain structure, which seems to be evolutionarily ancient. The radiation into p53, p63, and p73 proteins is a vertebrate invention. In invertebrate models amenable to genetic analysis p53 superfamily members mainly act in apopt...

A comprehensive, structural and functional, in silico analysis of the medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (MDR) superfamily, including 583 proteins, was carried out by use of extensive database mining and the blastp program in an iterative manner to identify all known members of the superfamily. Based on phylogenetic, sequence, and functional similarities, the protein members of the MDR superf...

Gene ytkD of Bacillus subtilis, a member of the Nudix hydrolase superfamily, has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified protein has been characterized as a nucleoside triphosphatase active on all of the canonical ribo- and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. Whereas all other nucleoside triphosphatase members of the superfamily release inorganic pyrophosphate and the cognate...

Acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) synthases act as chemical communication signals or pheromones in Gram-negative bacteria and regulate diverse physiological events in a cell density-dependent manner. The recent crystal structure determination of EsaI, a key enzyme in this pathway, shows that the AHL synthase superfamily members adopt the fold of the N-acetyltransferase superfamily. We suggest, by th...

The cyclic polyol myo-inositol is a key molecule in many different metabolic pathways among all organisms; in addition, it is fundamental for osmotic balance in the mammalian brain. This review sums up inositol transporters from eukaryotic organisms, elucidating their vital role in regulating the intracellular distribution and uptake of inositol. They can be divided into two groups according to...