Number of transmembrane segments in integral membrane proteins

Range Unicellular organisms 6 or 12: nematode & human 7 (weak preference) Segments
Organism Various
Reference Wallin E, von Heijne G. Genome-wide analysis of integral membrane proteins from eubacterial, archaean, and eukaryotic organisms. Protein Sci. 1998 Apr7(4):1029-38. p.1030 left column 2nd paragraphPubMed ID9568909
Method "To get an idea of the total number of integral membrane proteins in each organism, [researchers] carried out hydrophobicity analysis predictions with different selection criteria."
Comments "In general, [researchers] find that 20- 30% of all ORFs encode integral membrane proteins, and that there is an apparent preference for 6 and 12 transmembrane segments among the unicellular organisms and a weak preference for 7 transmembrane segments in C. elegans and H. sapiens."
Entered by Uri M
ID 109220