SLiMFinder: A Probabilistic Method for Identifying Over-Represented, Convergently Evolved, Short Linear Motifs in Proteins
2007

SLiMFinder: A Method for Finding Short Linear Motifs in Proteins

Sample size: 23224 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Richard J. Edwards, Norman E. Davey, Denis C. Shields

Primary Institution: University College Dublin

Hypothesis

Can we develop a computational method to identify over-represented short linear motifs (SLiMs) in protein sequences?

Conclusion

SLiMFinder is an efficient tool for discovering short linear motifs in proteins with a low false discovery rate.

Supporting Evidence

  • SLiMFinder identifies known SLiMs with 100% specificity.
  • The algorithms provide a low false discovery rate on random test data.
  • SLiMFinder is freely available for academic use.

Takeaway

SLiMFinder helps scientists find tiny patterns in proteins that are important for their function, making it easier to study how proteins interact.

Methodology

The study developed two algorithms, SLiMBuild and SLiMChance, to identify and assess the significance of short linear motifs in protein datasets.

Potential Biases

Potential bias due to the evolutionary relationships among proteins in the dataset.

Limitations

The method may miss motifs in small datasets or those with high degeneracy.

Participant Demographics

The study analyzed a dataset of human genomic protein sequences.

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.05

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1371/journal.pone.0000967

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