Intraflagellar transport of ciliary precursors such as tubulin from the cytoplasm to the ciliary tip is required for ciliogenesis []. Intraflagellar transport protein 81 (IFT81) is a component of the intraflagellar transport (IFT) complex B, which contains at least 20 different protein subunits. Together with IFT74 forms a tubulin-binding module that specifically mediates transport of tubulin within the cilium [].
This is the N-terminal domain found in IFT81 proteins. Crystal structure analysis revealed that IFT81-N adopts the fold of a calponin homology (CH) domain with structural similarity to the kinetochore complex component NDC80 with microtubule (MT)-binding properties. Functional analysis show that IFT74 and IFT81 form a tubulin-binding module required for ciliogenesis. It is suggested that IFT81-N binds the globular domain of tubulin to provide specificity, and IFT74-N recognizes the beta-tubulin tail to increase affinity [].
This superfamily represents the N-terminal domain found in IFT81 (Intraflagellar transport protein 81) proteins. Crystal structure analysis revealed that IFT81-N adopts the fold of a calponin homology (CH) domain with structural similarity to the kinetochore complex component NDC80 with microtubule (MT)-binding properties. Functional analysis show that IFT74 and IFT81 form a tubulin-binding module required for ciliogenesis. It is suggested that IFT81-N binds the globular domain of tubulin to provide specificity, and IFT74-N recognizes the beta-tubulin tail to increase affinity [].
