Prediction of the folding of short polypeptide segments by uniform conformational sampling

The native conformation of a protein is formed by interactions between the side chains of its constituent amino acids. When the amino acids cannot form these interactions, the protein cannot fold by itself and needs chaperones. Notably, chaperones do not relay any additional information required for the folding of polypeptides; the native conformation of a protein is determined solely by its amino acid sequence. Chaperones catalyze protein folding without being a part of the folded protein.
The...

Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.

Overview

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.
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...

The uniform distribution is a continuous probability distribution of events with an equal probability of occurrence. This distribution is rectangular.
Two essential properties of this distribution are

Unlike ethane and propane that have only two major conformations, butane has more than two conformers. The staggered form of butane in which the bulky methyl groups on the two carbons are placed on opposite sides, that is, at a dihedral angle of 180°, is the lowest energy, most stable form — called the anti conformer. This conformation is stabilized due to the absence of steric repulsion between the largely spaced out methyl groups. The other two staggered conformations are...