Membrane protein structure prediction and analysis

Membrane proteins account for 20%–30% of whole proteins and are considered to correspond to over 50% of the drug targets. They play a role in many important functions, such as the uptake and excretion of substances, signal transduction, and energy synthesis. Although the ratio of structure-solved membrane proteins is low compared with other proteins, the number has increased in recent years. We are developing a method to comprehensively analyze these structures and with the information obtained, predict structures that are characteristic of membranes and their relation to functions, along with three-dimensional structures and polymer structures of proteins.