The GAF domain is a type of
protein domain
In molecular biology, a protein domain is a region of a protein's Peptide, polypeptide chain that is self-stabilizing and that Protein folding, folds independently from the rest. Each domain forms a compact folded Protein tertiary structure, thre ...
that is found in a wide range of proteins from all species.
The GAF domain is named after some of the proteins it is found in: cGMP-specific phosphodiesterases, adenylyl cyclases and FhlA. The first structure of a GAF domain solved by Ho and colleagues showed that this domain shared a similar fold with the
PAS domain
A Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS) domain is a protein domain found in all kingdoms of life. Generally, the PAS domain acts as a molecular sensor, whereby small molecules and other proteins associate via binding of the PAS domain. Due to this sensing capabilit ...
.
In mammals, GAF domains are found in five members of the cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase superfamily: PDE2, PDE5, and PDE6 which bind cGMP to the GAF domain, PDE10 which binds cAMP, and PDE11 which binds both cGMP and cAMP.
Examples
Human proteins containing this domain include:
*
PDE2A,
PDE5A,
PDE6A,
PDE6B,
PDE6C
Cone cGMP-specific 3',5'-cyclic phosphodiesterase subunit alpha' is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''PDE6C'' gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is ...
,
PDE10A,
PDE11A
Dual 3',5'-cyclic-AMP and -GMP phosphodiesterase 11A is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''PDE11A'' gene.
The 3',5'-cyclic nucleotides cAMP and cGMP function as second messengers in a wide variety of signal transduction pathways. 3',5 ...
References
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Protein domains