HydroCalc Proteome: a tool to identify distinct characteristics of effector proteins

Bacterial pathogenicity is associated with secretion of effector proteins into intra- and extracellular spaces. These proteins interfere with cellular processes such as inhibition of phagosome-lysosome fusion, induction of apoptosis and autophagy, activation and suppression of kinases, regulation of receptor activity, and modulation of transcription factors. Knowledge regarding the characteristics of these proteins would assist in pathogenicity studies, and help to identify possible and novel targets for antibacterial drugs. Amino acid hydropathy is a property that can affect behavior patterns in effector proteins. The HydroCalc Proteome tool analyzes total hydropathy, average hydropathy, C-terminal hydropathy, C-terminal load, and basic polar amino acids at the C-terminus. These five properties could contribute to the identification of proteins with an effector potential. HydroCalc Proteome is a web tool that provides a simple interface for the analysis of hydropathy properties in proteins. This tool permits the analysis of a single protein or even the complete proteome, which cannot be achieved by using other hydropathy tools. The tool displays the result of five properties related to effector proteins in a single table. The HydroCalc Proteome (www.gmb.bio.br/hydrocalc) is a powerful tool for protein analysis, and can contribute to the study of effector proteins.