Characterization of the backbone geometry of protein native state structures

Interresidue protein contacts in proteins structures and at protein-protein interface are classically described by the amino acid types of interacting residues and the local structural context of the contact, if any, is described using secondary structures. In this study, we present an alternate analysis of interresidue contact using local structures defined by the structural alphabet introduced by Camproux et al. This structural alphabet allows to describe a 3D structure as a sequence of prototype fragments called structural letters, of 27 different types. Each residue can then be assigned to a particular local structure, even in loop regions. The analysis of interresidue contacts within protein structures defined using Voronoï tessellations reveals that pairwise contact specificity is greater in terms of structural letters than amino acids. Using a simple heuristic based on specificity score comparison, we find that 74% of the long-range contacts within protein structures are better described using structural letters than amino acid types. The investigation is extended to a set of protein-protein complexes, showing that the similar global rules apply as for intraprotein contacts, with 64% of the interprotein contacts best described by local structures. We then present an evaluation of pairing functions integrating structural letters to decoy scoring and show that some complexes could benefit from the use of structural letter-based pairing functions.

show abstract

Taking advantage of local structure descriptors to analyze interresidue contacts in protein structures and protein complexes

Martin

Regad

Etchebest

et al. 2008

Proteins

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Inter-helical Interactions in Membrane Proteins: Analysis Based on the Local Backbone Geometry and the Side Chain Interactions

Jha

Vishveshwara

2009

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The availability of a significant number of the structures of helical membrane proteins has prompted us to investigate the mode of helix-helix packing. In the present study, we have considered a dataset of alpha-helical membrane proteins representing structures solved from all the known superfamilies. We have described the geometry of all the helical residues in terms of local coordinate axis at the backbone level. Significant inter-helical interactions have been considered as contacts by weighing the number of atom-atom contacts, including all the side-chain atoms. Such a definition of local axis and the contact criterion has allowed us to investigate the inter-helical interaction in a systematic and quantitative manner. We show that a single parameter (designated as alpha), which is derived from the parameters representing the mutual orientation of local axes, is able to accurately capture the details of helix-helix interaction. The analysis has been carried out by dividing the dataset into parallel, anti-parallel, and perpendicular orientation of helices. The study indicates that a specific range of alpha value is preferred for interactions among the anti-parallel helices. Such a preference is also seen among interacting residues of parallel helices, however to a lesser extent. No such preference is seen in the case of perpendicular helices, the contacts that arise mainly due to the interaction of surface helices with the end of the trans-membrane helices. The study supports the prevailing view that the anti-parallel helices are well packed. However, the interactions between helices of parallel orientation are non-trivial. The packing in alpha-helical membrane proteins, which is systematically and rigorously investigated in this study, may prove to be useful in modeling of helical membrane proteins.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Characterization of the backbone geometry of protein native state structures

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Taking advantage of local structure descriptors to analyze interresidue contacts in protein structures and protein complexes

Taking advantage of local structure descriptors to analyze interresidue contacts in protein structures and protein complexes

Inter-helical Interactions in Membrane Proteins: Analysis Based on the Local Backbone Geometry and the Side Chain Interactions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About