All in the Family — In the May 7, 2013 issue of the journal Structure, Dr. Andras Fiser , Dr. Steve Almo and former graduate student Dr. Rotem Rubenstein describe the brotherhood algorithm, a new computational method that groups proteins into functionally related families. Based on the principle that “if my brother is your brother then we must also be brothers,” the method identifies and clusters families of proteins by shared similar proteins between any two candidates. Using this method, they identified and, through experiments, subsequently verified new members of the nectin/nectin-like protein family, which have key roles in mediating the immune response. The brotherhood algorithm can be used to discover new functional relationships among cell surface-attached immunoglobulin proteins; these proteins are common therapeutic targets for developing treatments for infectious diseases, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Fiser is professor of systems and computation biology and of biochemistry; Dr. Almo is professor of biochemistry and of physiology & biophysics.
Posted on: Friday, June 14, 2013