Question

I am studying toxicology where the presence of a toxic function is more important (in context) than a protein's ancestry. After scanning the lit, homology modelling seems to be the best way to infer (via structural conservation of functional domains/motifs) whether a function has been conserved or a protein has a similar action to another. Based on this my questions are:

Is there a better term for functionally similar than homolog, isoform, or biosimilar? Homolog implies common ancestry which isn't always the case. Isoform doesn't include homologs which may be the case. Biosimilars is very much tied to pharmaceuticals, which I would prefer to avoid.

Does anyone have any recommendations for models that can indicate/estimate the functional similarity between proteins? I realize this is a long shot, but the closest I have found so far was CSM-Toxin, which predicts toxicity, but doesn't alone the comparison of multiple protein sequences.

Answer 1

In toxicology, proteins with similar actions or functions can be described as functionally similar.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the field of toxicology, the term 'functionally similar' can be used to describe proteins that have similar actions or perform similar functions, regardless of their ancestral relationship. This term encompasses proteins that may not be homologs or isoforms.

To estimate the functional similarity between proteins, various models and tools can be used. A recommended model for estimating functional similarity between proteins is CSM-Toxin, which predicts toxicity. However, it does not support the direct comparison of multiple protein sequences.

Another approach to infer functional conservation is through homology modeling, which involves the structural conservation of functional domains and motifs across proteins. By comparing the structure of proteins, it is possible to determine whether a function has been conserved or if a protein has a similar action to another.