In silico identification of functional protein interfaces
2003
Identifying Functional Protein Interfaces
Sample size: 19
publication
Evidence: moderate
Author Information
Author(s): Rachel E. Bell, Nir Ben-Tal
Primary Institution: Tel Aviv University
Hypothesis
Can evolutionary relationships among homologous proteins help identify functional protein interfaces?
Conclusion
The ConSurf algorithm effectively identifies functional interfaces in proteins, even in cases where traditional methods fail.
Supporting Evidence
- ConSurf successfully detected the ATP binding-groove of the protein Mj0577.
- The method identified the homodimer-protein interface as highly conserved.
- Evolutionary analysis can help identify functional regions in proteins with unknown functions.
Takeaway
Scientists created a tool that helps find important parts of proteins by looking at how similar they are to other proteins.
Methodology
The study used the ConSurf web-server to analyze homologous proteins and identify functional interfaces based on evolutionary data.
Limitations
The effectiveness of the ConSurf method decreases when there are fewer than 10 homologous proteins available.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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