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Protein Folding

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Proteins are chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. Upon synthesis, a protein folds into a three-dimensional conformation, critical to its biological function. Interactions between its constituent amino acids guide protein folding, and hence the protein structure is primarily dependent on its amino acid sequence.
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Related Experiment Video

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Predicting protein function from sequence and structure.

David Lee¹, Oliver Redfern, Christine Orengo

¹Biomolecular Structure and Modelling Group, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. dlee@biochem.ucl.ac.uk

Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology

|November 27, 2007

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Predicting protein function computationally is crucial as genome sequencing outpaces experimental annotation. Computational methods offer attractive, cost-effective solutions for understanding protein roles from sequence and structural data.

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A Protocol for Computer-Based Protein Structure and Function Prediction

A Protocol for Computer-Based Protein Structure and Function Prediction

Published on: November 3, 2011

Area of Science:

Genomics
Proteomics
Bioinformatics

Background:

The rapid expansion of sequenced genomes highlights a gap in experimentally verified functional annotation.
Structural genomics projects generate numerous protein structures with unassigned functions.
Experimental functional characterization is resource-intensive, necessitating alternative approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

To review and highlight the utility of computational methods for predicting protein function.
To inform cell biologists about available techniques for functional annotation using sequence and structural data.

Main Methods:

Review of existing computational methods for protein function prediction.
Analysis of approaches utilizing sequence and structural data.
Discussion of the strengths and limitations of various techniques.

Main Results:

Computational methods provide an attractive alternative to experimental validation for protein function.
A growing number of techniques leverage sequence and structural information for prediction.
These methods are increasingly accessible to researchers in cell biology.

Conclusions:

Computational protein function prediction is essential for annotating large-scale genomic data.
Understanding the capabilities and limitations of these tools is key for effective application.
These methods empower cell biologists to infer protein functions efficiently.