Cdc13 Stn1 Ten1 forms an evolutionarily conserved complex (the CST complex) that has telomeric roles in most organisms studied so far (Miyake et al, 2009; Surovtseva et al, 2009).
Recent data strongly suggest that the retromer complex has conserved a function in mediating retrograde trafficking [ 38] and that VPS29 is involved in the cycling of certain PM proteins and required for the establishment of cell polarity during organ initiation in plants [ 66].
Are there superfamilies which do not follow this trend and tend to conserve their complex membership?
AMPK is a highly conserved heterotrimeric complex that functions as a versatile metabolic 'sensor' with a wide tissue distribution.
In conjunction with experiment-guided molecular modeling, the structures suggest a conserved receptor chemokine complex architecture, while highlighting the diverse details and functional roles of individual interaction epitopes.
Another, the Arabidopsis AtMED21, a subunit of an evolutionarily conserved Mediator complex that is thought to play a key role in regulating RNA polymerase II activity [ 71], was found to interact with AtHUB1 and play critical roles in disease resistance to necrotrophic fungi and embryo development [ 13].
SRP14 is a component of the signal recognition particle, a universally conserved ribonucleoprotein complex that mediates targeting of membrane and secretory proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum [ 19].
In a eukaryotic cell, genetic information is stored in a highly conserved and complex structural polymer called chromatin.
A recent example of such an approach is the successful identification of a highly conserved regulatory complex implicated in human leukemia [ 48].
Furthermore, Pph3 has known roles in an evolutionarily conserved phosphatase complex, protein phosphatase 4 (PP4), with conserved roles in the DNA damage response (Gingras et al, 2005; Kim et al, 2007; Mendoza et al, 2007), complicating previous work on Maf1 involving Pph3.
