SORT: a program for detecting the sorting signals of proteins
and predicting their subcellular localization
Kenta Nakai(1), Paul Horton(2)
Recent advances in large-scale genome sequencing have resulted in the accumulation
of amino acid sequences of unknown function. A variety of projects are now beginning to clarify the functions of these proteins, including the systematic determination of these proteins' subcellular localization sites.
Because sorting signals usually determine protein localization,
it is resonable to attempt to recognize sorting signals, and indeed predict localization sites, computationally.
To date, several algorithms for detecting various sorting signals have been developed, and several researchers have attempted to predict subcellular localization sites on basis of protein amino acid composition.
We have developed a program, PSORT, that to our knowledge is the only program
which predicts subcellular localization by exploiting comprehensive knowledge of protein sorting.