Terminology and Usage
As with many biological terms, the use of protein family is somewhat context dependent; it may indicate large groups of proteins with the lowest possible level of detectable sequence similarity, or very narrow groups of proteins with almost identical sequence, function, and three-dimensional structure, or any kind of group in-between. To distinguish between these situations, Dayhoff introduced the concept of a protein superfamily. Other terms such as protein class, protein group, and protein sub-family have been coined over the years, but all suffer similar ambiguities of usage. A common usage is superfamily > family > sub-family. In the end, caveat emptor, it is up to a reader to discern exactly how these terms are being used in a particular context.
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“...Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, “It depends.” And what it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.”
—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)