Protein Function Prediction

Proteins contain sequences of conserved regions that carry out particular functions. These patterns of conserved regions are termed motifs and domains. A motif is a short conserved sequence pattern made up of about 10 to 20 amino acids and associated with distinct functions of a protein, while a domain is a longer conserved sequence pattern made up of about 40 to 700 amino acids and defined as an independent functional and structural unit. A common approach to protein function prediction is to scan the input sequence of an unknown function for motifs and domains with known and preserved protein functions.