What are protein interaction networks?
Protein interaction networks are displays of the other proteins within the cell that specifically interact with a protein of interest. These networks come from databases of scientific researching noting each interaction partner found within many model organisms, such as String. Each color line within the network indicates a different connection, with yellow indicating textmining, or information from texts, pink indicating experiments, and blue indicating concurrence.
What proteins does EFHC1 interact with?
EFHC1 protein was analyzed using String database and all interaction partners displayed. The partners were then grouped by protein function using Pfam and Smart database information. The protein interaction network was extended to one layer out from immediate EFHC1 partners, also displaying the partners of any direct protein partners of EFHC1 to give more detail to the proteins found by String analysis.
Analysis:
EFHC1 protein interaction partners were mostly able to be grouped into two larger protein function categories: voltage gated ion channel proteins and proteins involved in spermatogenesis. The presence of many ion channel proteins is not surprising, as EFHC1 has a role in the firing of neurons which means the opening and closing of these channels. However, the spermatogenesis seems like a surprising category to be linked to an epilepsy protein. This result makes sense makes sense, however, when considering the importance of microtubules in EFHC1 function, and the high levels of microtubule structures in the flagellum of sperm cells that must be constructed during spermatogenesis.
Analysis:
EFHC1 protein interaction partners were mostly able to be grouped into two larger protein function categories: voltage gated ion channel proteins and proteins involved in spermatogenesis. The presence of many ion channel proteins is not surprising, as EFHC1 has a role in the firing of neurons which means the opening and closing of these channels. However, the spermatogenesis seems like a surprising category to be linked to an epilepsy protein. This result makes sense makes sense, however, when considering the importance of microtubules in EFHC1 function, and the high levels of microtubule structures in the flagellum of sperm cells that must be constructed during spermatogenesis.
References:
String 9.1 http://string-db.org/
Pfam 27.0 http://pfam.xfam.org/
Smart http://smart.embl-heidelberg.de/