Kappa-alpha plot derived structural alphabet and BLOSUM-like substitution matrix for rapid search of protein structure database
2007

3D-BLAST: A New Tool for Protein Structure Database Search

Sample size: 674 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Tung Chi-Hua, Huang Jhang-Wei, Yang Jinn-Moon

Primary Institution: National Chiao Tung University

Hypothesis

Can a novel protein structure database search tool improve the identification of homologous protein structures?

Conclusion

The 3D-BLAST tool is efficient and significantly outperforms PSI-BLAST for protein structures with low sequence identity.

Supporting Evidence

  • 3D-BLAST can search over 12,000 protein structures in just 1.2 seconds.
  • The tool provides statistical significance (E value) for alignment hits.
  • 3D-BLAST outperforms PSI-BLAST at 25% sequence identity or less.

Takeaway

3D-BLAST is a new tool that helps scientists find similar protein structures quickly, even when they don't look alike.

Methodology

The study developed a structural alphabet and a substitution matrix to enhance the BLAST search algorithm for protein structures.

Limitations

The tool requires a specific structural alphabet database and may not detect remote homologous relationships effectively.

Statistical Information

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/gb-2007-8-3-r31

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