TM or not TM: Transmembrane protein prediction with low false positive rate using DAS-TMfilter

Abstract

Summary: Web-based servers implementing the DAS-TMfilter algorithm have been launched at three mirror sites and their usage is described. The underlying computer program is an upgraded and modified version of the DAS-prediction method. The new server is designed to make distinction between protein sequences with and without transmembrane (TM) helices at a reasonably low rate of false positive prediction (∼1 among 100 unrelated queries) while the high efficiency of the original algorithm locating TM segments in queries is preserved (sensitivity of ∼95% among documented proteins with helical TM regions).