Figure 2.
Structure of the TIMP-3 protein. TIMP-3 is glycosylated at the asparagine amino acid, N184 and contains six disulphide bonds marked by asterisks. The gray sections represent the five strands (A-E) of the N-terminus ß-barrel. Strands A and B can each strongly bind heparan sulphate, which is suggested to result from the net positive charge in these regions. They contain nine basic amino acids indicated by open circles and only one acidic residue. TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 contain several acidic residues that neutralise the charge from their basic residues residing in this region.