The structure of the
PP5 protein was the first structure to be determined. The structure solved by
X-ray crystallography by Das and colleagues showed that the TPR sequence motif was composed of a pair of antiparallel alpha helices. The PP5 structure contained 3 tandem TPR repeats which showed the sequential TPR repeats formed an alpha-helical
solenoid structure. A typical TPR structure is characterized by interactions between helices A and B of the first motif and helix A’ of the next TPR. Although the nature of such interactions may vary, the first two helices of the TPR motif typically have a packing angle of ~24 degrees within a single motif. Repeats of more than three TPR motifs generate a right handed superhelix characterized by both a concave and a convex face, of which the concave face is usually involved in ligand binding. In terms of sequence, a TPR possesses a mixture of small and large hydrophobic residues, nonetheless, no positions are fully invariant. There are however certain residues that are usually conserved including Tryptophan 4, Leucine 7, Glycine 8, Tyrosine 11, Alanine 20, Phenylalanine 24, Alanine 27 and Proline 32. Among those 8, Alanine at positions 8, 20 and 27 tend to be more conserved. The other positions have a stronger preference for either small, large or aromatic amino acids rather than a specific residue. In between helices, residue conservation plays more of a structural role with helix breaking residues present. Between adjacent TPR, residues have roles with both structural and functional implications. == TPR containing peptides ==