AlphaFold DB · AF-Q99497-F1

DJ-1 / the rust detector

A 189-residue (amino acid) human protein that senses oxidative stress in your cells — and whose loss causes an inherited, early-onset form of Parkinson's disease.

UniProt Q99497 · Gene PARK7
189 aa · 19.9 kDa · monomer modeled (native homodimer)
Global pLDDT 98.4 (very high confidence)
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3D structure

Loading real coordinates — not a recreation.

contacting structure servers …
very high (>90) confident (70–90) low (50–70) very low (<50)

The redox switch

DJ-1's signature trick: three cysteines act like a chemical smoke detector for oxidative stress. Click one, then step through what happens to it.

Sequence map

All 189 residues. Confidence shading appears once the structure finishes loading. The three sensor cysteines are outlined — click them too.

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Side chain spotlight

Select an arginine (Arg / R) or cysteine (Cys / C) residue above to see its full side chain structure here.

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Why this protein, not a random one

Most AlphaFold entries are abstract until you connect the fold to a consequence. DJ-1 is a good one to learn on: it's small enough to hold in your head, its job (mop up reactive byproducts of metabolism before they damage other proteins and DNA) is concrete, and the cost of it failing is well documented — mutations in PARK7 are a known, if rare, cause of autosomal-recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease, often before age 40.

Quick facts

fold
flavodoxin-like (Rossmann-related), DJ-1/ThiJ/PfpI superfamily
function
glyoxalase / deglycase — neutralizes reactive methylglyoxal & related carbonyls
assembly
functions as a homodimer in the cell (AlphaFold here models one subunit)
key residue
Cys106 — easily oxidized; widely used as a biomarker of cellular oxidative stress
disease link
loss-of-function mutations → PARK7-linked early-onset Parkinson's disease