Patent ID: 7869961

Claim:
A method for spatially profiling a protein to determine if the protein is a globular protein, the method comprising the steps of: determining a shifted and normalized hydrophobicity distribution for a protein, wherein determining the shifted and normalized hydrophobicity distribution for a protein is carried out by a component executing on a hardware processor; determining a centroid of the protein, wherein determining the centroid of the protein is carried out by a component executing on a hardware processor; determining, by using the shifted and normalized hydrophobicity distribution, an adjusted second-order moment of hydrophobicity, wherein determining the adjusted second-order moment of hydrophobicity is carried out by a component executing on a hardware processor; determining a profile of the adjusted second-order moment of hydrophobicity, wherein a profile comprises a reference point, a coordinate system and a shape representative of the protein, wherein the reference point comprises the centroid, and wherein determining the profile comprises determining a first distance from the centroid at which the adjusted second-order moment of hydrophobicity is zero, and wherein determining the profile of the adjusted second-order moment of hydrophobicity is carried out by a component executing on a hardware processor; and comparing the profile to a globular protein profile to determine if the protein is a globular protein, wherein comparing the profile to a globular protein profile to determine if the protein is a globular protein is carried out by a component executing on a hardware processor.