InterPro domain: IPR036420

The breast cancer susceptibility gene contains at its C terminus two copies of a conserved domain that was named BRCT for BRCA1 C terminus. This domain of about 95 amino acids is found in a large variety of proteins involved in DNA repair, recombination and cell cycle control [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. The BRCT domain is not limited to the C-terminal of protein sequences and can be found in multiple copies or in a single copy as in RAP1 and TdT. Some data [ 4 ] indicate that the BRCT domain functions as a protein-protein interaction module.

The structure of the first of the two C-terminal BRCT domains of the human DNA repair protein XRCC1 has been determined by X-ray crystallography, it comprises a four-stranded parallel beta-sheet surrounded by three alpha-helices, which form an autonomously folded domain [ 5 ].

1. BRCA1 protein products ... Functional motifs... Nat. Genet. 13, 266-8
2. A superfamily of conserved domains in DNA damage-responsive cell cycle checkpoint proteins. FASEB J. 11, 68-76
3. From BRCA1 to RAP1: a widespread BRCT module closely associated with DNA repair. FEBS Lett. 400, 25-30
4. Structure of an XRCC1 BRCT domain: a new protein-protein interaction module. EMBO J. 17, 6404-11