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MATH (meprin and TRAF-C homology) domain; an independent folding unit with an eight-stranded beta-sandwich structure found in meprins, TRAFs and other proteins. Meprins comprise a class of extracellular metalloproteases which are anchored to the membrane and are capable of cleaving growth factors, extracellular matrix proteins, and biologically active peptides. TRAF molecules serve as adapter proteins that link cell surface receptors of the Tumor Necrosis Factor and 1nterleukin-1/Toll-like families to downstream kinase cascades, which results in the activation of transcription factors and the regulation of cell survival, proliferation and stress responses in the immune and inflammatory systems. Other members include the ubiquitin ligases, TRIM37 and SPOP, and the ubiquitin-specific proteases, HAUSP and Ubp21p. A large number of uncharacterized members mostly from lineage-specific expansions in C. elegans and rice contain MATH and BTB domains, similar to SPOP. The MATH domain has been shown to bind peptide/protein substrates in TRAFs and HAUSP. It is possible that the MATH domain in other members of this superfamily also interacts with various protein substrates. The TRAF domain may also be involved in the trimerization of TRAFs. Based on homology, it is postulated that the MATH domain in meprins may be involved in its tetramer assembly and that the MATH domain, in general, may take part in diverse modular arrangements defined by adjacent multimerization domains.
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