Predicted and Measured Disorder in Peripherin/rds, a Retinal Tetraspanin

Vertebrate photoreceptor outer segment (OS) morphogenesis requires peripherin/rds (P/rds). We have characterized this protein's C-terminus and present evidence that suggests it is intrinsically disordered. We propose that structural flexibility may underlie the multifunctionality proposed for this domain previously. The extremely short Ctermini present in other tetraspanin family members suggest that intrinsic disorder may also play a role for those proteins.