LCP family


The LCP family or TagU family of proteins is a conserved family of phosphotransferases that are involved in the attachment of teichoic acid molecules to gram-positive cell wall or cell membrane. It was initially thought as the LytR component of a LytABC operon encoding autolysins, but the mechanism of regulation was later realized to be the production of TA molecules. It was accordingly renamed TagU.
The "LCP" acronym derives from three proteins initially identified to contain this domain, LytR, cpsA, and psr. These proteins were mistaken as transcriptional regulators via different reasons, but all three of them are now known to be TagU-like enzymes. While TagU itself only attaches TA molecules to the peptidoglycan cell wall, other LCP proteins may glycosylate cell wall proteins or attach TA molecules to a cell membrane anchor. Most, if not all, LCP proteins also have a secondary pyrophosphatase activity.
Typical TagU proteins are made up of an N-terminal transmembrane domain, an optional, non-conserved accessory domain, a core catalytic domain, and sometimes a C-terminal domain for which the structure is unknown. The core LCP domain is a magnesium-dependent enzyme.