Subunit structure

This subsection of the ‘General annotation (Comments)’ section provides information about the protein quaternary structure and interaction(s) with other proteins or protein complexes (with the exception of physiological receptor-ligand interactions which are annotated in the ‘Function’ subsection).

1. Quaternary structure

The composition of the quaternary structure is explicitly described. Chains or subunits are cited either specifically with gene names or in a generic way if there are a number of interchangeable participants.
Examples: P83448, P57530, P32323

2. Protein-protein interactions

We describe protein-protein interactions and generally use the primary gene name to cite the interacting protein. If no gene name is available, the appropriate protein name is used. If the gene name is not frequently used in scientific literature, we further specify it by appending through a slash ”/” an additional gene synonym or a protein name or synonym.
Examples: Q4KLM5, Q9BXJ7

If appropriate, we provide additional information resulting from a given interaction, such as prerequisite or resulting post-translational modification(s), isoform specificity or involved domains.
Examples: Q9Y3D6, O60239

3. Host-pathogen protein-protein interactions

For interactions with viral proteins, the viral gene name is preceded by an indication of its viral origin, typically the virus name abbreviation from the ‘Organism’ section.
Example: O60238

Related keyword: Host-virus interaction

4. Protein-complex interactions

Stable complexes are described with a list of all known participating subunits, including the protein is described in the entry.
Examples: Q13098, Q6P2C8

Interactions can be propagated ‘By similarity’ to closely related species.