Sorting nexins are a large group of proteins that are localized in the cytoplasm and have the potential for membrane association either through their lipid-binding PX domain (a phospholipid-binding motif) or through protein–protein interactions with membrane-associated protein complexes[2][3] Some members of this family have been shown to facilitate protein sorting.
Sorting nexins either consist solely of a PX domain (e.g. SNX3) or have a modular structure made up of the PX and additional domains.
A subgroup of sorting nexins (comprising, in humans, SNX1, SNX2, SNX4, SNX5, SNX6, SNX7, SNX8, SNX9, SNX18, SNX30, SNX32 and SNX33) possess a BAR domain at their C-terminus. (The BAR domain of SNXs 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 30 is classified by pfam as 'Vps5 C terminal like'.)
An example of a sorting nexin domain structure can be seen here for SNX1:
Schematic diagram of the 1D structures of a representative sorting nexin, the sorting nexin 1 (SNX1). NTD = N-terminal SNX domain, PX = PX domain, CTD = C-terminal BAR domain.
^Dixon JE, Worby CA (2002). "Sorting out the cellular functions of sorting nexins". Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3 (12): 919–931. doi:10.1038/nrm974. PMID12461558. S2CID36361630.
^Worby CA, Dixon JE (2002). "Sorting out the cellular functions of sorting nexins". Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3 (12): 919–31. doi:10.1038/nrm974. PMID12461558. S2CID36361630.
