A Genome-Wide Survey, Model Selection, Phylogenetic Analysis and Protein-Protein Interactional Network Profile of the Metazoan PRKAG Genes from 22 Vertebrate Genomes

<ns2:p>AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a cellular energy sensor which regulates organizational energy and phosphorylates diverse enzymes, playing key roles in determining different metabolic phenotypes and the energy metabolism equilibrium. This genome-wide survey identified and analyzed 266 unique AMPK gamma subunit (PRKAG) gene sequences from the recently updated genomes of human and 21 animals. After the model selection of phylogenetic analysis parameters, all the 266 protein sequences of these identified human and animal PRKAG genes were used to compute ML (Maximum Likelihood) phylogenetic tree under the evolutionary WAG+G and the protein-protein interactional network analysis using the STRING database. Subsequently, the phylogenetic analysis verified and found all these PRKAG gene sub-families from the amphibian, fish, avian, and mammal genomes formed large monotonous phylogenetic clusters except for three frog PRKAG sequences. Particularly, all the primate PRKAG genes formed the super-class of their sole phylogenetic clusters. Furthermore, the mapped network profile analysis revealed that these PRKAG genes were functionally assembled and/or enriched in the energy metabolism, immune responsive and/or inflammatory and myosin or myosin heavy chain interacting proteins related signaling pathways. In addition, most of these proteins are interrelated and formed a tight protein interactional network of energy metabolism. In conclusion, the observed data and information of protein-protein interaction will contribute to understanding and analyzing the possible protein functions and interacted pathways of animal PRKAG genes and/or other AMPK subunit genes. The metazoan PRKAG gene sequences and identified dataset may be beneficial for related developmental and physiological research topics. These findings may also be potentially applied to explore and resolve the critical issues of disease-induced loss that many medical researchers are taking into research.</ns2:p>