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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Interactome-Seq: A Protocol for Domainome Library Construction, Validation and Selection by Phage Display and Next Generation Sequencing
Published on: October 3, 2018
THoR: a tool for domain discovery and curation of multiple alignments
Nicholas J Dickens1, Chris P Ponting
1MRC Functional Genetics Unit, University of Oxford, Department of Human Anatomy and Genetics, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK. nicholas.dickens@anat.ox.ac.uk
THoR is a new tool that automatically generates protein domain alignments using PSI-BLAST and HMMER. It offers accurate, comprehensive alignments via a web browser to aid biological significance assessment.
Area of Science:
- Bioinformatics
- Computational Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Protein domain analysis is crucial for understanding protein function and evolution.
- Accurate multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) are fundamental for domain family characterization.
- Existing methods may lack comprehensive coverage or ease of use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce THoR, a novel tool for automated creation and curation of protein domain MSAs.
- To provide an accurate and comprehensive alignment resource accessible via a web browser.
- To facilitate the assessment of biological significance for protein domains.
Main Methods:
- THoR integrates the PSI-BLAST and HMMER algorithms.
- The tool automatically generates and curates MSAs for protein domain families.
- A web-browser interface with cross-references supports biological significance assessment.
Main Results:
- THoR produces accurate and comprehensive alignments for diverse domain families.
- Benchmarking against SMART and pufferfish genome databases demonstrates THoR's accuracy.
- The web-based platform simplifies access and interpretation of alignment data.
Conclusions:
- THoR offers an efficient and accurate solution for protein domain MSA generation.
- The tool enhances the study of protein domain evolution and function.
- THoR is a valuable resource for researchers in bioinformatics and genomics.
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