Hepatoma Derived Growth Factor Like Protein 1 (HDGFL1)

HDGFL1 belongs to the HDGF family. Hepatoma-derived growth factor (hHDGF)-related proteins (HRPs) comprise a new growth factor family sharing a highly conserved and ordered N-terminal PWWP module and a variable disordered C-terminal domain. PWWP module is responsible for heparin binding and have solved its structure in solution. The monomer-dimer equilibrium properties and NMR structural data together suggest that the PWWP dimer is formed through a domain-swapping mechanism. The domain-swapped PWWP dimer structures were calculated on the basis of the NMR data. The results show that the two PWWP protomers exchange their N-terminal hairpin to form a domain-swapped dimer. The two monomers in a dimer are linked by the long flexible L2 loops, a feature supported by NMR relaxation data for the monomer and dimer.