A Method to Identify Protein Sequences that Fold into a Known Three- Dimensional Structure
Abstract
The inverse protein folding problem, the problem of finding which amino acid sequences fold into a known three-dimensional (3D) structure, can be effectively attacked by finding sequences that are most compatible with the environments of the residues in the 3D structure. The environments are described by: (i) the area of the residue buried in the protein and inaccessible to solvent; (ii) the fraction of side-chain area that is covered by polar atoms (O and N); and (iii) the local secondary structure. Examples of this 3D profile method are presented for four families of proteins: the globins, cyclic AMP (adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate) receptor-like proteins, the periplasmic binding proteins, and the actins. This method is able to detect the structural similarity of the actins and 70- kilodalton heat shock proteins, even though these protein families share no detectable sequence similarity.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- July 1991
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1853201
- Bibcode:
- 1991Sci...253..164B