Structural and Functional Implications of Human Transforming Growth Factor ß-Induced Protein, TGFBIp, in Corneal Dystrophies.

A major cause of visual impairment, corneal dystrophies result from accumulation of protein deposits in the cornea. One of the proteins involved is transforming growth factor ß-induced protein (TGFBIp), an extracellular matrix component that interacts with integrins but also produces corneal deposits when mutated. Human TGFBIp is a multi-domain 683-residue protein, which contains one CROPT domain and four FAS1 domains. Its structure spans ∼120 Å and reveals that vicinal domains FAS1-1/FAS1-2 and FAS1-3/FAS1-4 tightly interact in an equivalent manner. The FAS1 domains are sandwiches of two orthogonal four-stranded ß sheets decorated with two three-helix insertions. The N-terminal FAS1 dimer forms a compact moiety with the structurally novel CROPT domain, which is a five-stranded all-ß cysteine-knot solely found in TGFBIp and periostin. The overall TGFBIp architecture discloses regions for integrin binding and that most dystrophic mutations cluster at both molecule ends, within domains FAS1-1 and FAS1-4.