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- * General diffusion gram-negative porins signature *
- ****************************************************
-
- The outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria acts as a molecular filter for
- hydrophilic compounds. Proteins, known as porins [1], are responsible for the
- 'molecular sieve' properties of the outer membrane. Porins form large water-
- filled channels which allows the diffusion of hydrophilic molecules into the
- periplasmic space. Some porins form general diffusion channels that allows any
- solutes up to a certain size (that size is known as the exclusion limit) to
- cross the membrane, while other porins are specific for a solute and contain
- a binding site for that solute inside the pores (these are known as selective
- porins). As porins are the major outer membrane proteins, they also serve as
- receptor sites for the binding of phages and bacteriocins.
-
- General diffusion porins generally assemble as trimer in the membrane and the
- transmembrane core of these proteins is composed exclusively of beta strands
- [2]. It has been shown [3] that a number of general porins are evolutionary
- related, these porins are:
-
- - Enterobacteria phoE.
- - Enterobacteria ompC.
- - Enterobacteria ompF.
- - Enterobacteria nmpC.
- - Bacteriophage PA-2 LC.
- - Neisseria PI.A.
- - Neisseria PI.B.
-
- As a signature pattern we selected a conserved region, located in the
- C-terminal part of these proteins, which spans two putative transmembrane beta
- strands.
-
- -Consensus pattern: [LIVMFY]-x(2)-G-x(2)-Y-x-F-x-K-x(2)-[SN]-[STA]-[LIVMFY]-V
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
- -Last update: October 1993 / Pattern and text revised.
-
- [ 1] Benz R., Bauer K.
- Eur. J. Biochem. 176:1-19(1988).
- [ 2] Jap B.K., Walian P.J.
- Quart. Rev. Biophys. 23:367-403(1990).
- [ 3] Jeanteur D., Lakey J.H., Pattus F.
- Mol. Microbiol. 5:2153-2164(1991).
-