The tricorn protease (TRI), a member of the S41 peptidase family and named for its tricorn-like shape, exists only in some archaea and eubacteria. It has been shown to act as a carboxypeptidase, involved in the degradation of proteasomal products to preferentially yield di- and tripeptides, with subsequent and final degradations to free amino acid residues by tricorn interacting factors, F1, F2 and F3. Tricorn is a hexameric D3-symmetric protease of 720kD, and can self-associate further into a giant icosahedral capsid structure containing twenty copies of the complex. Each tricorn peptidase monomer consists of five structural domains: a six-bladed beta-propeller and a seven-bladed beta-propeller that limit access to the active site, the two domains (C1 and C2) that carry the active site residues, and a PDZ-like domain (proposed to be important for substrate recognition) between the C1 and C2 domains. The active site tetrad residues are distributed between the C1 and C2 domains, with serine and histidine on C1 and serine and glutamate on C2.
Lu S et al.(2020). "CDD/SPARCLE: the conserved domain database in 2020.",