In molecular biology, the DEP domain (Dishevelled, Egl-10 and Pleckstrin domain) is a globular

protein domain In molecular biology, a protein domain is a region of a protein's polypeptide chain that is self-stabilizing and that folds independently from the rest. Each domain forms a compact folded three-dimensional structure. Many proteins consist o ...

of about 80 amino acids that is found in over 50

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respondi ...

involved in

G-protein G proteins, also known as guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, are a family of proteins that act as molecular switches inside cells, and are involved in transmitting signals from a variety of stimuli outside a cell to its interior. Their ...

signalling pathway In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) or cell communication is the ability of a cell to receive, process, and transmit signals with its environment and with itself. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all cellula ...

s. It was named after the three

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

s it was initially found in: *

Dishevelled Dishevelled (Dsh) is a family of proteins involved in canonical and non-canonical Wnt signalling pathways. Dsh (Dvl in mammals) is a cytoplasmic phosphoprotein that acts directly downstream of frizzled receptors. It takes its name from its initi ...

(Dsh and Dvl), which plays a key role in the

transduction Transduction ('' trans-'' + '' -duc-'' + '' -tion'', "leading through or across") can refer to: * Signal transduction, any process by which a biological cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another ** Olfactory transduction ** Sugar ...

of the Wg/Wnt signal from the

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

surface to the

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom * Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucl ...

; it is a segment polarity protein required to establish coherent arrays of polarised cells and segments in

embryos An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm c ...

, and plays a role in

wingless The Wnt signaling pathways are a group of signal transduction pathways which begin with proteins that pass signals into a cell through cell surface receptors. The name Wnt is a portmanteau created from the names Wingless and Int-1. Wnt signaling p ...

signalling In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

. *Egl-10, which

regulate Regulate may refer to: * Regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology Biology is the scientific study o ...

s G-protein

in the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

RGS9 Regulator of G-protein signalling 9, also known as RGS9, is a human gene, which codes for a protein involved in regulation of signal transduction inside cells. Members of the RGS family, such as RGS9, are signaling proteins that suppress the acti ...

. *

Pleckstrin Pleckstrin is a protein found in platelets. The name derives from platelet and leukocyte C kinase substrate and the KSTR string of amino acids. It is the source of the name pleckstrin homology domain Pleckstrin homology domain (PH domain) or ...

, the major

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

protein kinase C In cell biology, Protein kinase C, commonly abbreviated to PKC (EC 2.7.11.13), is a family of protein kinase enzymes that are involved in controlling the function of other proteins through the phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups of serine and ...

platelets Platelets, also called thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are a component of blood whose function (along with the coagulation factors) is to react to bleeding from blood vessel injury by clumping, thereby i ...

; Pleckstrin contains two PH domains flanking the DEP domain.

Mammalia Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fu ...

n regulators of G-protein signalling also contain these domains, and regulate

signal transduction Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results in a cellular ...

by increasing the

GTPase GTPases are a large family of hydrolase enzymes that bind to the nucleotide guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and hydrolyze it to guanosine diphosphate (GDP). The GTP binding and hydrolysis takes place in the highly conserved P-loop "G domain", a ...

activity of G-protein alpha subunits, thereby driving them into their inactive GDP-bound form. It has been proposed that the DEP domain could play a selective role in targeting DEP domain-containing

to specific subcellular membranous sites, perhaps even to specific

G protein-coupled G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as seven-(pass)-transmembrane domain receptors, 7TM receptors, heptahelical receptors, serpentine receptors, and G protein-linked receptors (GPLR), form a large group of evolutionarily-related p ...

signaling pathways.

Nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

spectroscopy has revealed that the DEP domain comprises a three-helix bundle, a beta-hairpin 'arm' composed of two beta-strands and two short beta-strands in the C-terminal region.

References

{{Protein domains Protein domains