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Evolutionary plasticity of protein families: coupling between sequence and structure variation
Anna R Panchenko1, Yuri I Wolf, Larisa A Panchenko
1Computational Biology Branch, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA. panch@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Proteins
|September 27, 2005
Summary
Protein evolution links sequence changes to structural shifts. Most families show strong correlations, but some, like those with disulfide bonds, deviate, indicating complex evolutionary plasticity.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Structural bioinformatics
- Molecular evolution
Background:
- Protein structure and sequence are fundamental to biological function.
- Understanding the evolutionary relationship between sequence variation and structural changes is crucial for deciphering protein adaptation.
- Homologous protein families provide a model system to study these evolutionary dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the coupling between protein sequence variation and structural changes during evolution.
- To quantify and compare the evolutionary plasticity of structure across diverse protein families.
- To differentiate the evolutionary dynamics of protein cores versus loop regions.
Main Methods:
- Sequence-structure correlation analysis was performed on 81 homologous protein families.
- Statistical procedures were employed to assess the significance of linear correlations.
- The evolutionary plasticity of structure was calculated and compared between families.
- Analysis was extended to compare loop regions and protein cores.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant linear correlation between sequence and structural similarity was observed in the majority of homologous protein families.
- Exceptions were noted where structural variability was not solely explained by sequence variation, such as in families with disulfide bonds.
- Evolutionary plasticity of structure was found to be largely consistent across different protein families, with few significant differences.
- Protein loop regions demonstrated greater evolutionary plasticity compared to the protein core.
Conclusions:
- Protein sequence and structure evolve in a coupled manner for most homologous families.
- While sequence variation is a primary driver of structural change, other factors can influence structural plasticity.
- The evolutionary plasticity of protein structure is generally conserved across families, suggesting common evolutionary principles.
- Loop regions exhibit higher evolutionary plasticity than core regions, reflecting their distinct functional and structural roles.