For mapping energetic interactions in proteins, a technique was developed that uses evolutionary data for a protein family to measure statistical interactions between amino acid positions. For the PDZ domain family, this analysis predicted a set of energetically coupled positions for a binding site residue that includes unexpected long-range interactions. Mutational studies confirm these predictions, demonstrating that the statistical energy function is a good indicator of thermodynamic coupling in proteins. Sets of interacting residues form connected pathways through the protein fold that may be the basis for efficient energy conduction within proteins.

Proteins display a hierarchy of structural features at primary, secondary, tertiary, and higher-order levels, an organization that guides our current understanding of their biological properties and evolutionary origins. Here, we reveal a structural organization distinct from this traditional hierarchy by statistical analysis of correlated evolution between amino acids. Applied to the S1A serine proteases, the analysis indicates a decomposition of the protein into three quasi-independent groups of correlated amino acids that we term “protein sectors”. Each sector is physically connected in the tertiary structure, has a distinct functional role, and constitutes an independent mode of sequence divergence in the protein family. Functionally relevant sectors are evident in other protein families as well, suggesting that they may be general features of proteins. We propose that sectors represent a structural organization of proteins that reflects their evolutionary histories.

The human rotamase or peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase Pin1 is a conserved mitotic regulator essential for the G2/M transition of the eukaryotic cell cycle. We report the 1.35 A crystal structure of Pin1 complexed with an AlaPro dipeptide and the initial characterization of Pin1's functional properties. The crystallographic structure as well as pH titration studies and mutagenesis of an active site cysteine suggest a catalytic mechanism that includes general acid-base and covalent catalysis during peptide bond isomerization. Pin1 displays a preference for an acidic residue N-terminal to the isomerized proline bond due to interaction of this acidic side chain with a basic cluster. This raises the possibility of phosphorylation-mediated control of Pin1-substrate interactions in cell cycle regulation.