Tubulin Folding Cofactor E (TBCE)

Cofactor E is one of four proteins (cofactors A, D, E, and C) involved in the pathway leading to correctly folded beta-tubulin from folding intermediates. Cofactors A and D are believed to play a role in capturing and stabilizing beta-tubulin intermediates in a quasi-native confirmation. Cofactor E binds to the cofactor D/beta-tubulin complex; interaction with cofactor C then causes the release of beta-tubulin polypeptides that are committed to the native state. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene.Cofactor E performs the second step in the beta-tubulin folding process, interacting with the beta-tubulin-cofactor D intermediate. Cofactor E has an apparent molecular mass of 150 kD on a gel filtration column. Under denaturing conditions, cofactor E consists of a 60-kD peptide.