Phosphatase Subfamily PAPL

Phosphatase Classification: Fold PPPL: Superfamily PPPL: Family PAP: PAPL

Evolution

PAPL subfamily is found in holozoa but lost from most arthropods. Humans have a single member, PAPL, but many invertebrates have multiple members, which probably emerged via different evolutionary events (see below). Each of sea urchin, nematostella, sponge and monosiga has three members, but there is no evidence that supports they belong to any double-conserved synteny by i) browsing Genomicus, and ii) searching the genes in genome browsers (sea urchin in UCSC genome browser, another three in JGI genome browser). The sponge copies arrange as a tandem of three PAPLs, while the copies locate in different scaffolds in sea urchin, nematostella and monosiga. In sum, the multiple copies arose through different duplication events.

Domain Structure

PAPL has a phosphatase domain and a signal peptide cleavage site on N-terminus. Though predicted to be secreted, human PAPL is found mostly in the cytoplasm (http://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000183760-PAPL/tissue).

Function

Unclear.