PROSITE logo
Black ribbon
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Amos Bairoch (1957–2025), the creator of PROSITE. We wish to dedicate our latest paper, published shortly before his death, to him. He will always be a source of inspiration to us.
Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends, and to all those who had the privilege of working with him. Rest in peace, Amos. Your work will live on long after you are gone.
Amos Bairoch

PROSITE documentation PDOC51778
VASt domain profile


View entry in original PROSITE document format
View entry in raw text format (no links)
PURL: https://purl.expasy.org/prosite/documentation/PDOC51778

Description

The VASt (VAD1 Analog of StAR-related lipid transfer) domain is conserved across eukaryotes and is structurally related to Bet v1-like domains (see <PDOC00437>), including START lipid-binding domains (see <PDOC50848>). The ~190-amino acid VASt domain is predominantly associated with lipid binding domains such as GRAM, C2 (see <PDOC00380>) and PH (see <PDOC50003>) domains. The VASt domain is likely to have a function in binding large hydrophobic ligands and may be specific for sterol [1,2].

The predicted structure of the VASt domain is a two-layer sandwich α β fold, also called "helix grip fold", containing three α helices (α1 to 3), six β-sheets (β1 to 6) and two loops (omega1 and 2) numbered from N to C terminus [1].

Some proteins known to contain a VASt domain are listed below:

  • Plant vascular associated death1 (VAD1), a regulator of programmed cell death (PCD) harboring a GRAM putative lipid-binding domain.
  • Yeast SNF1 Interacting Protein 3 (SIP3), may be involved in sterol transfer between intracellular membranes.
  • Yeast Suicide Protein 1 (YSP1), a mitochondrial protein specifically required for the mitochondrial thread-grain transition, de-energization, and the cell death. May be involved in sterol transfer between intracellular membranes.
  • Yeast Suicide Protein 2 (YSP2), a mitochondrial membrane protein involved in mitochondrial fragmentation. May be involved in sterol transfer between intracellular membranes.
  • Human GramD1a-c.

The profile we developed covers the entire VASt domain.

Last update:

October 2015 / First entry.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Technical section

PROSITE method (with tools and information) covered by this documentation:

VAST, PS51778; VASt domain profile  (MATRIX)


References

1AuthorsKhafif M. Cottret L. Balague C. Raffaele S.
TitleIdentification and phylogenetic analyses of VASt, an uncharacterized protein domain associated with lipid-binding domains in Eukaryotes.
SourceBMC Bioinformatics 15:222-222(2014).
PubMed ID24965341
DOI10.1186/1471-2105-15-222

2AuthorsGatta A.T. Wong L.H. Sere Y.Y. Calderon-Norena D.M. Cockcroft S. Menon A.K. Levine T.P.
TitleA new family of StART domain proteins at membrane contact sites has a role in ER-PM sterol transport.
SourceElife 4:0-0(2015).
PubMed ID26001273
DOI10.7554/eLife.07253



PROSITE is copyrighted by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, see prosite_license.html.