Signal peptides and protein localization prediction

In 1999, the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Gunther Blobel “for the discovery that proteins have intrinsic signals that govern their transport and localization in the cell”. Since the subcellular localization of a protein is an important clue to its function, the characterization and prediction of these intrinsic signals – the “zip codes” of proteins – has become a major task in bioinformatics.

Here, I will review the most important methods for the prediction of subcellular localization, also known as protein sorting. Owing to the limited space, this review is far from complete; especially, applications that are not publicly available on-line are ignored. Generally, there are two approaches to protein localization prediction: signal detection, that is, prediction of the sorting signals themselves, and prediction based on global properties (amino acid composition and/or physicochemical variables) that are characteristic of different subcellular compartments.