Iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis protein family
In molecular biology, the iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis protein family of includes proteins involved in biogenesis of Fe-S clusters. This family includes IscA, HesB, YadR and YfhF-like proteins. The hesB gene is expressed only under nitrogen fixation conditions, within nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria. IscA, an 11 kDa member of the hesB family of proteins, binds iron and clusters, and participates in the biosynthesis of iron-sulfur proteins. IscA is able to bind at least 2 iron ions per dimer. Other members of this family include various hypothetical proteins that also contain the NifU-like domain suggesting that they too are able to bind iron and are involved in Fe-S cluster biogenesis. The HesB family are found in species as divergent as Homo sapiens and Haemophilus influenzae suggesting that these proteins are involved in basic cellular functions.
