Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Identification and Classification of Position-specific GABAA Receptor Subunit Missense Variants for Their Role In Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons
Published on: June 6, 2025
Numerical characterization of protein sequences and application to voltage-gated sodium channel alpha subunit
Ashesh Nandy1, Ambarnil Ghosh, Papiya Nandy
1School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
Abstract:
We propose a new method to compare sequences of protein families by generating numerical characterizations through a 20D representation. Using a walk along the axes representing the amino acids we generate a vector for each sequence whose components can be used to derive distance matrices between sequences and whose magnitudes can be used to compare the similarities/dissimilarities between the different sequences. The distance matrices enable creation of phylogenetic trees without need for multiple alignments or any other model dependencies. In this paper we test this technique with human globin gene sequences and then apply the method to a contemporary issue of evolutionary relationships of rat and human voltage-gated sodium channel alpha subunits and compare with published literature. The close match of the results demonstrates the reliability and ease of use of this method.
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Voltage-gated Ion Channels
Generally, all voltage-gated ion channels have a 'voltage-sensing domain' that spans the lipid bilayer. The charged residues in the sensor move in response to the membrane potential changes that open the channel allowing ions movement. There are several types of...
Voltage-gated Ion Channels
Generally, all voltage-gated ion channels have a 'voltage-sensing domain' that spans the lipid bilayer. The charged residues in the sensor move in response to the membrane potential changes that open the channel allowing ions movement. There are several types of...
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Microbial Phylogeny

