‘Superdark’ protein looks like a G-protein-coupled receptor - but shows unconventional behaviour
Researchers have identified a 'superdark' protein that exhibits unconventional behavior similar to G-protein-coupled receptors. The study utilizes predicted protein structures to categorize previously unknown proteins within the 'dark proteome'.
Why it matters
Advancements in understanding the dark proteome could lead to significant breakthroughs in drug discovery and biological research.
Nil Casajuana-Martin is in the Center of Excellence for Data Driven Discovery, Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA.
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M. Madan Babu is in the Center of Excellence for Data Driven Discovery, Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA.
Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X Save article View saved research Most human proteins have been catalogued. However, many remain part of the ‘dark proteome’, which comprises proteins with functions that cannot be readily inferred because their amino-acid sequences are not similar to those of characterized protein families 1 . Writing in Nature , Lee et al. 2 use predicted protein structures to shine a light on this poorly understood group of proteins.
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