Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, CNR, Via P. Castellino 111, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Department of Biology, Polytechnic School of Basic Sciences, University of Naples "Federico II", 80126 Naples, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb 18;22(4):2035. doi: 10.3390/ijms22042035.
The DING proteins are ubiquitous in the three domains of life, from mesophiles to thermo- and hyperthermophiles. They belong to a family of more than sixty members and have a characteristic N-terminus, DINGGG, which is considered a "signature" of these proteins. Structurally, they share a highly conserved phosphate binding site, and a three dimensional organization resembling the "Venus Flytrap", both reminding the ones of PstS proteins. They have unusually high sequence conservation, even between distantly related species. Nevertheless despite that the genomes of most of these species have been sequenced, the DING gene has not been reported for all the relative characterized DING proteins. Identity of known DING proteins has been confirmed immunologically and, in some cases, by N-terminal sequence analysis. Only a few of the DING proteins have been purified and biochemically characterized. DING proteins are heterogeneous for their wide range of biological activities and some show different activities not always correlated with each other. Most of them have been originally identified for different biological properties, or rather for binding to phosphate and also to other ligands. Their involvement in pathologies is described. This review is an update of the most recent findings on old and new DING proteins.
DING 蛋白广泛存在于从嗜中温菌到热和超嗜热菌的生命的三个领域。它们属于一个拥有六十多个成员的家族，具有特征性的 N 端 DINGGG，这被认为是这些蛋白质的“特征”。在结构上，它们共享一个高度保守的磷酸结合位点，以及一个类似于“捕蝇草”的三维组织，这两个结构都让人联想到 PstS 蛋白。它们具有异常高的序列保守性，即使在亲缘关系较远的物种之间也是如此。尽管这些物种中的大多数基因组已经测序，但并非所有相对特征化的 DING 蛋白都报告了 DING 基因。已知 DING 蛋白的同一性已通过免疫学和在某些情况下通过 N 端序列分析得到证实。只有少数 DING 蛋白已被纯化并进行了生化特性鉴定。DING 蛋白因其广泛的生物学活性而具有异质性，并且一些蛋白表现出不同的活性，这些活性并不总是相互关联。它们中的大多数最初是根据不同的生物学特性，或者更确切地说是根据与磷酸盐以及其他配体的结合来识别的。还描述了它们在病理学中的作用。这篇综述是对旧的和新的 DING 蛋白的最新发现的更新。
