The OmpR-family of proteins: Insight into the tertiary structure and functions of two-component regulator proteins

Abstract

The Escherichia coli DNA-binding protein OmpR is the best characterized of those regulater proteins making up "two-component system," the simplest known form of bacterial signal transduction systems. Previous inspections of the E. coli genome DNA sequences have revealed that there are 15 proteins whose amino acid sequences show extensive similarities to that of OmpR (the OmpR-family of proteins). The three-dimensional structruces of several OmpR-family proteins have been determined. In this review, we investigated the structures and amino acid sequences of this family of proteins. The results reveal several notable conservative varieties in their tertiary structures and functions.