Curating a protein complex
Scenario
Protein complexes are stable sets of interacting molecules which have been demonstrated to form a biological functional unit. Information about protein complexes is captured by several curated resources including generalist databases such as UniProt as well as more specialised resources which deal specifically with complexes such as the Complex Portal.
You have come across a recent paper (Li et al., 2023) describing a human ion channel. You now want to capture information about the complex for inclusion in your curated resource. Using literature and bioinformatics resources, provide an overview of the protein complex including a list of the complex members, a description of the role of each protein and an overview of the role of the complex.
Project aims
Identify the components of the ion channel complex described in the Li at al. paper and map them to a reference database by providing their UniProt accession numbers.
- Briefly describe the roles of each of the complex members. You can use the information available in online resources as well as making use of information from the original paper and other literature. Information should be written in free text but you can also provide appropriate ontology terms.
- Provide a concise summary of the overall role of the complex.
- Provide evidence for each piece of information that you capture.
- Outline your workflow for reviewing the complex and describe your choice of tools/resources and what information they offer.
Further work
- Consider what resources and tools you could use to identify additional literature reporting identification and characterisation of protein complexes.