User:Lonsbio/sandbox

Application
Determining subcellular localization is important for understanding protein function and is a critical step in genome annotation.

Knowledge of the subcellular localization of a protein can significantly improve target identification during the drug discovery process. For example, secreted proteins and plasma membrane proteins are easily accessible by drug molecules due to their localization in the extracellular space or on the cell surface.

Bacterial cell surface and secreted proteins are also of interest for their potential as vaccine candidates or as diagnostic targets.

Aberrant subcellular localization of proteins has been observed in the cells of several diseases, such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Secreted proteins from some archaea that can survive in unusual environments have industrially important applications.

Databases
Curated protein subcellular locations can be searched in UniProtKB. There are several computationally predicted protein subcellular location databases including the fungal secretome and subcellular proteome knowledgebase (FunSecKB2), the plant secretome and subcellular proteome knowledgebase (PlantSecKB), MetazSecKB for human and animals, and the lactic acid bacterial secretome database. Though there are some inaccuracies in the computational prediction, these databases provide useful resources for further characterizing the protein subcellular locations.