Spectrin repeat explained

Spectrin repeats^[1] are found in several proteins involved in cytoskeletal structure. These include spectrin, alpha-actinin, dystrophin and more recently the plakin family. The spectrin repeat forms a three-helix bundle. These conform to the rules of the heptad repeat. Spectrin repeats give rise to linear proteins. This however may be due to sample bias in which linear and rigid structures are more amenable to crystallization. There are hints however, that some proteins harbouring spectrin repeats may also be flexible. This is most likely due to specifically evolved functional purposes.

Human proteins containing this domain

ACTN1

ACTN2; ACTN3; ACTN4; AKAP6; SYNE3; CATX-15; DMD;DRP2

DST; KALRN; MACF1; MCF2L; SPTA1; SPTAN1;SPTB

SPTBN1; SPTBN2; SPTBN4; SPTBN5; SYNE1; SYNE2;TRIO

UTRN;

References

• Jefferson. JJ. Ciatto, C . Shapiro, L . Liem, RK . Structural analysis of the plakin domain of bullous pemphigoid antigen1 (BPAG1) suggests that plakins are members of the spectrin superfamily.. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2007. 366. 1. 244–57. 17161423. 10.1016/j.jmb.2006.11.036. 1850962.
• Grum. VL. Li, D . MacDonald, RI . Mondragón, A . Structures of two repeats of spectrin suggest models of flexibility.. Cell. 1999. 98. 4. 523–35. 10481916. 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81980-7. 1710820. free.

Further reading

• Djinovic-Carugo K, Gautel M, Ylänne J, Young P . The spectrin repeat: a structural platform for cytoskeletal protein assemblies . FEBS Lett. . 513 . 1 . 119–23 . February 2002 . 11911890 . 10.1016/S0014-5793(01)03304-X. 10581541 . free .
• Pascual J, Castresana J, Saraste M . Evolution of the spectrin repeat . BioEssays . 19 . 9 . 811–7 . September 1997 . 9297972 . 10.1002/bies.950190911 . 42145758 .
• Al-Jassar. C. Knowles, T . Jeeves, M . Kami, K . Behr, E . Bikker, H . Overduin, M . Chidgey, M . The Nonlinear Structure of the Desmoplakin Plakin Domain and the Effects of Cardiomyopathy-Linked Mutations.. Journal of Molecular Biology. Jul 2, 2011. 21756917. 10.1016/j.jmb.2011.06.047. 411. 5. 1049–61.

Notes and References

1. Harrison SC, Yan Y, Winograd E, Viel A, Cronin T, Branton D . Crystal structure of the repetitive segments of spectrin . Science . 262 . 5142 . 2027–2030 . 1993 . 8266097 . 10.1126/science.8266097.