InterPro domain: IPR045156

This family includes vacuolar protein 8 (Vac8), an armadillo repeat-containing protein that functions in both vacuole inheritance and protein targeting from the cytoplasm to vacuole [ 1 , 2 ]. Its structure has a N-terminal flexible H1 helix followed by 12 armadillo repeats that form a right-handed superhelical structure [ 3 ]. The cationic triad (Arg276, Arg317, and Arg359) motifs in this protein are critical for the interaction with the nuclear membrane protein Nvj1 to form a nucleus-vacuole junction (NVJ) and for the recognition of Atg13, a key component of the cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting (CVT) pathway [ 4 ].

1. Vac8p, a vacuolar protein with armadillo repeats, functions in both vacuole inheritance and protein targeting from the cytoplasm to vacuole. J. Cell Biol. 140, 1063-74
2. Candida albicans VAC8 is required for vacuolar inheritance and normal hyphal branching. Eukaryotic Cell 5, 359-67
3. Mechanistic insight into the nucleus-vacuole junction based on the Vac8p-Nvj1p crystal structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114, E4539-E4548