TooT-T: discrimination of transport proteins from non-transport proteins

摘要

Membrane transport proteins control the movement of molecules across the membrane so that essential molecules such as sugars and amino acids enter the cell while waste compounds leave the cell. It is estimated that membrane transport proteins encode 2% to 16% of open reading frames in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, highlighting the importance of transporters in all living species [ ]. Any defective or mis-regulated membrane proteins can disturb the body’s homoeostasis, thereby causing disease. Therefore, the study of cell membranes is critical for understanding the causes of many diseases and determining how to treat them. Membrane proteins are exceptionally attractive targets for the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed, over half of today’s FDA-approved drugs target them [ ].