PMID: 9827808 , Related PDB id: 1BPO

Authors:

ter Haar E, Musacchio A, Harrison SC, Kirchhausen T

Title:

Atomic structure of clathrin: a beta propeller terminal domain joins an alpha zigzag linker.

Journal:

Cell. 1998 Nov 13;95(4):563-73.

Abstract:

Clathrin triskelions form the lattice that organizes recruitment of proteins to coated pits and helps drive vesiculation of the lipid bilayer. We report the crystal structure at 2.6 A resolution of a 55 kDa N-terminal fragment from the 190 kDa clathrin heavy chain. The structure comprises the globular "terminal domain" and the linker that joins it to the end of a triskelion leg. The terminal domain is a seven-blade beta propeller, a structure well adapted to interaction with multiple partners, such as the AP-1 and AP-2 sorting adaptor complexes and the nonvisual arrestins. The linker is an alpha-helical zigzag emanating from the propeller domain. We propose that this simple motif may extend into the rest of the clathrin leg.