GoKawiilResearchers use AlphaFold database to identify TM184C as a GPCR-like regulator
A research team mined all 214.5 million structure predictions in Google DeepMind's AlphaFold database to search for undiscovered 7TM (seven-transmembrane) folds resembling G-protein-coupled receptors. Using the rhodopsin structure as a reference and the TM-align algorithm, they identified TM184C as a previously unrecognized GPCR-like protein involved in regulating cell-to-cell exchange and autophagy. The analysis required processing 24 tebibytes of compressed structural data on university supercomputing clusters.
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This demonstrates how large-scale structural databases like AlphaFold can be systematically mined to uncover 'superdark' proteins whose functions were previously hidden due to lack of sequence or structural similarity to known families. Finding a new GPCR-like regulator has potential implications for drug discovery, since GPCRs are the target of roughly a third of approved medications, and autophagy-related regulators are of interest in aging and disease research.
- A team searched over 214 million AlphaFold-predicted protein structures for undiscovered GPCR-like folds.
- TM184C was identified as a new GPCR-like protein linked to intercellular exchange and autophagy regulation.
- The project required massive computational infrastructure, processing 24 tebibytes of AlphaFold structural data.
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Published there as: “TM184C is a GPCR-like regulator of intercellular exchange and autophagy”
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