Protein Clustering and Classification

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2004

Abstract

Proteins are the building blocks of all organisms. The name protein is derived from the Greek word ‘protos’ which means first or primal. Indeed proteins are the most fundamental substance of life, as they are the key component of the protoplasm of all cells. In addition to their role as the building blocks of cells and tissue, proteins also play a role in executing and regulating most biological processes. Enzymes, hormones, transcription factors, pumps and antibodies are examples for the diverse functions fulfilled by proteins in a living organism. In the study of proteins, there are three important attributes of proteins: sequence, structure, and function. The sequence is essentially the string of amino acids which comprises the protein. The structure of the protein is the way the protein is outlaid in the three dimensional space. Perhaps most important, yet most elusive, is the protein function. The protein function is its actual role in the specific organism in which it exists. Understanding the protein function is critical for most applications, such as drug design, genetic engineering, or pure biological research.

Discipline

Bioinformatics | Computer Sciences

Publication

New Avenues in Bioinformatics

Volume

8

Editor

Joseph Seckbach and Eitan Rubin

First Page

203

Last Page

226

ISBN

9781402028342

Identifier

10.1007/978-1-4020-2834-2_15

Publisher

Springer

City or Country

Berlin

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2834-2_15

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