InterPro domain: IPR001401

Membrane transport between compartments in eukaryotic cells requires proteins that allow the budding and scission of nascent cargo vesicles from one compartment and their targeting and fusion with another. Dynamins are large GTPases that belong to a protein superfamily [ 1 ] that, in eukaryotic cells, includes classical dynamins, dynamin-like proteins, OPA1, Mx proteins, mitofusins and guanylate-binding proteins/atlastins [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], and are involved in the scission of a wide range of vesicles and organelles. They play a role in many processes including budding of transport vesicles, division of organelles, cytokinesis and pathogen resistance.

The minimal distinguishing architectural features that are common to all dynamins and are distinct from other GTPases are the structure of the large GTPase domain (300 amino acids) and the presence of two additional domains; the middle domain and the GTPase effector domain (GED), which are involved in oligomerization and regulation of the GTPase activity.

This entry represents the GTPase domain, containing the GTP-binding motifs that are needed for guanine-nucleotide binding and hydrolysis. The conservation of these motifs is absolute except for the the final motif in guanylate-binding proteins. The GTPase catalytic activity can be stimulated by oligomerisation of the protein, which is mediated by interactions between the GTPase domain, the middle domain and the GED.

1. The dynamin superfamily: universal membrane tubulation and fission molecules? Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 5, 133-47
2. Motor proteins of cytoplasmic microtubules. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 59, 909-32
3. A putative GTP binding protein homologous to interferon-inducible Mx proteins performs an essential function in yeast protein sorting. Cell 61, 1063-74
4. Mitochondrial DNA maintenance in yeast requires a protein containing a region related to the GTP-binding domain of dynamin. Genes Dev. 6, 380-9
5. Purification and characterization of a human Mx protein. J. Interferon Res. 9, 679-89
6. The crystal structure of dynamin. Nature 477, 561-6