NEW PROTEIN CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

Proteins are classified by studying the sequences of their aminoacids. CRG researchers, from the design of biological systems group, led by Luis Serrano, and the comparative bioinformatics group, coordinated by Cedric Notredame, have developed a new classification system that also considers the structure.

The new method, published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, has been developed for the analysis of the GTPase RAS superfamily proteins and the cysteine rich domain associated with the TNRFs family. Among other results the researchers found that some current classifications could be more precise, and therefore would provide more accurate information to predict the functions of the proteins.

Reference work: "T-RMSD: A Fine-grained, Structure-based Classification Method and its Application to the Functional Characterization of TNF Receptors". Cedrik Magis, François Stricher, Almer M. van der Sloot, Luis Serrano and Cedric Notredame. J. Mol. Biol. 400(3):605-17 (2010).