| Primary Identifier | IPR007259 | Type | Family |
| Short Name | GCP |
| description | The microtubule organizing centres (MTOCs) of eukaryotic cells are the sites of nucleation of microtubules, and are known as the centrosome in animal cells and the spindle pole body in yeast. Gamma-tubulin, which is 30% identical to alpha and beta tubulins that form microtubules, appears to be a key protein involved in nucleation of microtubules.Gamma tubulin can assemble into complexes of various sizes with members of the GCP family. In budding yeast, the gamma tubulin-containing small complex (gammaTuSC) contains gamma tubulin, GCP2 and GCP3 (also known as Spc97 and Spc98). In Drosophila and vertebrates, gamma tubulin forms much larger assemblies, termed gamma-tubulin ring complexes (gammaTuRCs), with gamma tubulin, GCP2, GCP3, GCP4, GCP5 and GCP6. The purified gammaTuSC and gammaTuRC complexes exhibit a 'lock washer' shape []. However, the purified gammaTuSC has been shown to have a much lower microtubule-nucleating activity than intact gammaTuRC []. Several models have been proposed to explain their assembly and nucleation mechanism []. This entry represents the GCP family, whose members include GCP2/3/4/5/6 and Spc97/98 []. They contain the GRIP1 and GRIP2 motifs, which are predicted to participate in protein-protein interactions []. They are gamma tubulin binding proteins that have similar protein structures []. |
