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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

A Protocol for Computer-Based Protein Structure and Function Prediction
Published on: November 3, 2011
Properties of Cavities in Biological Structures-A Survey of the Protein Data Bank
Mateusz Chwastyk1, Ewa A Panek2, Jan Malinowski3
1Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract:
We performed a PDB-wide survey of proteins to assess their cavity content, using the SPACEBALL algorithm to calculate the cavity volumes. In addition, we determined the hydropathy character of the cavities. We demonstrate that the cavities of most proteins are hydrophilic, but smaller proteins tend to have cavities with hydrophobic walls. We propose criteria for distinguishing between cavities and pockets, and single out proteins with the largest cavities.
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