Kelch motif

The Kelch motif is a region of protein sequence found widely in proteins from bacteria and eukaryotes. This sequence motif is composed of about 50 amino acid residues which form a structure of a four stranded beta-sheet 'blade'. This sequence motif is found in between five and eight tandem copies per protein which fold together to form a larger circular solenoid structure called a beta-propeller domain. The Kelch motif is a region of protein sequence found widely in proteins from bacteria and eukaryotes. This sequence motif is composed of about 50 amino acid residues which form a structure of a four stranded beta-sheet 'blade'. This sequence motif is found in between five and eight tandem copies per protein which fold together to form a larger circular solenoid structure called a beta-propeller domain. The Kelch motif is widely found in eukaryotic and bacterial species. Notably the human genome contains around 100 proteins containing the Kelch motif. Within individual proteins the motif occurs multiple times. For example, the motif appears 6 times in Drosophila egg-chamber regulatory protein. The motif is also found in mouse protein MIPP and in a number of poxviruses. In addition, kelch repeats have been recognised in alpha- and beta-scruin, in galactose oxidase from the fungus Dactylium dendroides and in the Escherichia coli NanM protein, that is a sialic acid mutarotase. The structure of galactose oxidase reveals that the repeated Kelch sequence motif corresponds to a 4-stranded anti-parallel beta-sheet motif that forms the repeat unit in a super-barrel structural fold commonly known as a beta propeller.