Focus Feature – Protein Functions

This Focus Feature led by Jacquelyn S. Fetrow and Patricia C. Babbitt focuses on understanding the different molecular functions that can exist within a protein superfamily and the features that define those differences. Three research groups take the approach of clustering proteins into functionally relevant groups while the fourth research group describes a computational approach to enumerating potential reaction products in a protein superfamily. Each of the methods described in these works builds on previous work, and each continues to aid our understanding of molecular function and relationships between functionally relevant clusters within a protein superfamily. And while the “messiness” of biology continues to challenge general solutions for identifying functional boundaries, new approaches such as those described in this Focus Feature offer new directions for exploration.

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