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Analysis of the MCTP Amino Acid Sequence Reveals the Conservation of Putative Calcium- and Lipid-Binding Pockets Within the C2 Domains In Silico

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Abstract

MCTPs (Multiple C2 Domains and Transmembrane region Proteins) are evolutionarily and structurally related to other C2 proteins, which are central to exocytosis and membrane trafficking; however, their specific function has been little studied. MCTPs are associated with endosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum and possess three C2 domains (C2A-C2C) and two transmembrane regions (TMRs) well conserved in different species. Here, we generated structural models of the MCTP C2 domains of C. elegans and analyzed their putative function by docking, which revealed that these domains possess Ca2+- and lipid-binding pockets, suggesting that MCTPs play a significant, calcium-dependent role in membrane physiology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by CONACYT A1-S-7659 and PAPIIT-UNAM IN204520 to AMT. José Luis Téllez Arreola is a doctoral student from Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and received fellowship 395834 from CONACYT and Fulbright-Garcia Robles (COMEXUS). We thank Meghana Venkatesan for the English edition to the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Neurobiología Celular Y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, 76215, Juriquilla, Querétaro, México

    José Luis Téllez-Arreola & Ataúlfo Martínez-Torres

  2. Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico

    Adriana E. Flores-Moran

  3. Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    José M. Lazaro-Guevara

  4. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    José M. Lazaro-Guevara

  5. Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    José M. Lazaro-Guevara

  6. Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Argel Estrada-Mondragón

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  1. José Luis Téllez-Arreola
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Téllez-Arreola, J.L., Martínez-Torres, A., Flores-Moran, A.E. et al. Analysis of the MCTP Amino Acid Sequence Reveals the Conservation of Putative Calcium- and Lipid-Binding Pockets Within the C2 Domains In Silico. J Mol Evol 90, 271–282 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-022-10057-1

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