Journal of Proteomics & Bioinformatics
Open Access

Phylogenetic analysis of chloride ion channels to determine active motif: an In silico appraoch

Paikrao, V.M. and Rattan, K.

: JPB

Abstract :

The physiological importance of ion channels makes them an ideal target for novel drug discovery, and research efforts are focused on utilizing both computational as well as laboratory approaches in understanding this important class having major roles in humans. The present work involved the in-silico phylogenitic analysis of the poorly characterized chloride ion channels in Homo sapiens to determine evolution of the ion channel. The study also explored, using a computational approach, the possible conserved motif to determine the functional sequence of the channel. A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or ?tree? showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities based upon similarities and differences in their physical and/or genetic characteristics. The taxa joined together in the tree are implied to have descended from a common ancestor. In a rooted phylogenetic tree, each node with descendants represents the inferred most recent common ancestor of the descendants, and the edge lengths in some trees may be interpreted as time estimates. Each node is called a taxonomic unit. Internal nodes are generally called hypothetical taxonomic units (HTUs) as they cannot be directly observed.