A survey of putative secreted and transmembrane proteins encoded in the C. elegans genome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Almost half of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome encodes proteins with either a signal peptide or a transmembrane domain. Therefore a substantial fraction of the proteins are localized to membranes, reside in the secretory pathway or are secreted. While these proteins are of interest to a variety of different researchers ranging from developmental biologists to immunologists, most of secreted proteins have not been functionally characterized so far.

Results

We grouped proteins containing a signal peptide or a transmembrane domain using various criteria including evolutionary origin, common domain organization and functional categories. We found that putative secreted proteins are enriched for small proteins and nematode-specific proteins. Many secreted proteins ar

SUBMITTER: Suh J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3534327 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature