Protein Superfamily

See: MEROPS, Protein, Common Ancestry, Homology (Biology), Structural Alignment, Sequence Homology, Protein Families, Protease.

References

(Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/protein_superfamily Retrieved:2017-8-4.
- A protein superfamily is the largest grouping (clade) of proteins for which common ancestry can be inferred (see homology). Usually this common ancestry is inferred from structural alignment and mechanistic similarity, even if no sequence similarity is evident. Sequence homology can then be deduced even if not apparent (due to low sequence similarity). Superfamilies typically contain several protein families which show sequence similarity within each family. The term protein clan is commonly used for protease superfamilies based on the MEROPS protease classification system.