The name of this superfamily has been modified since the most recent official CATH+ release (v4_3_0). At the point of the last release, this superfamily was: waiting to be named.

Functional Families

Overview of the Structural Clusters (SC) and Functional Families within this CATH Superfamily. Clusters with a representative structure are represented by a filled circle.

Superfamily: PDZ domain

This superfamily entry comprises PDZ domains, also known as Discs-large homologous regions (DHR) or glycine-leucine-glycine-phenylalanine (GLGF), which are found in diverse signalling proteins in bacteria, yeasts, plants, insects and vertebrates. PDZ is an acronym derived from the names of the first proteins in which the domain was observed - post-synaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95), a synaptic protein found in the brain, Discs large from Drosophila (Dlg1) and zona occludens 1 (ZO-1), which are involved in cell signalling.

PDZ domains can occur in one or multiple copies and are nearly always found in cytoplasmic proteins. They recognise internal sequence motifs or short amino acid sequences at the C-terminus of target proteins. Structurally, they consist of 5-6 beta-strands and 2 or 3 small alpha helical structures. PDZ domains have a highly conserved fold, but secondary structures vary in length and in sequence.

Peptide binding of the ligand takes place in an elongated surface groove as an anti-parallel beta-strand interacts with a beta strand and the second helix. The structure of PDZ domains allows binding to a free carboxylate group at the end of a peptide through a carboxylate-binding loop between the beta-A and beta-B strands.

They bind either the C-terminal sequences of proteins or internal peptide sequences. In most cases, interaction between a PDZ domain and its target is constitutive, with a binding affinity of 1 to 10 microns. However, agonist-dependent activation of cell surface receptors is sometimes required to promote interaction with a PDZ protein. PDZ domain proteins are frequently associated with the plasma membrane, a compartment where high concentrations of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) are found. Direct interaction between PIP2 and a subset of class II PDZ domains (syntenin, CASK, Tiam-1) has been demonstrated.

Pfam [PfamClan:CL0466], PFAM:PF00595, INTERPRO:IPR036034,PMID:20509869,PMID:16737969

GO Diversity

Unique GO annotations
1730 Unique GO terms

EC Diversity

Unique EC annotations
9 Unique EC terms

Species Diversity

Unique species annotations
20112 Unique species

Sequence/Structure Diversity

Overview of the sequence / structure diversity of this superfamily compared to other superfamilies in CATH. Click on the chart to view the data in more detail.

Superfamily Summary

A general summary of information for this superfamily.
Structures
Domains: 984
Domain clusters (>95% seq id): 272
Domain clusters (>35% seq id): 123
Unique PDBs: 527
Alignments
Structural Clusters (5A): 26
Structural Clusters (9A): 10
FunFam Clusters: 658
Function
Unique EC: 9
Unique GO: 1730
Taxonomy
Unique Species: 20112