The classification of alzheimer's disease proteins using a structure­ based phylogenetic method

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behaviour to the human. There is no primary causes for Alzheimer's disease because a lot of suspected causes may contributed to this disease. According to Alzheimer's society, there is still no drug or treatments that can cure this disease. Hence, using a phylogenetic study provides a better understanding of the relationships and characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. Phylogeny is the study of the evolutionary of organism using tree-like diagram that depicts the relationship between different species, organisms or genes from a common ancestor. This thesis provides a classification of Alzheimer's disease proteins using a structure-based phylogenetic method. Data sets of 64 Alzheimer's disease proteins are retrieved from Protein Data Bank and then use in the construction of phylogenetic trees. The results shows that the classification of 64 Alzheimer's disease proteins inferred from three-dimensional information reflects the protein classification of the SCOP database. Thus, this classification data is useful for early drug discovery process and thus provides an insight for Alzheimer's disease treatment.