Insights into immunophilin structure and function

Abstract

The immunophilins are proteins which are capable of influencing the immune response in combination with an immunosuppressive drug. Their natural function, however, is mainly the cis/trans isomerization of peptidyl-prolyl bonds in other proteins. This review lists all immunophilin structure coordinates currently available in the RCSB protein data bank and highlights the key active-site factors that define their catalytic and immunological action. In addition, an overview of biologically-relevant functions is provided for various immunophilin members.