Prediction of residues in discontinuous B-cell epitopes using protein 3D structures.

ABSTRACT: Discovery of discontinuous B-cell epitopes is a major challenge in vaccine design. Previous epitope prediction methods have mostly been based on protein sequences and are not very effective. Here, we present DiscoTope, a novel method for discontinuous epitope prediction that uses protein three-dimensional structural data. The method is based on amino acid statistics, spatial information, and surface accessibility in a compiled data set of discontinuous epitopes determined by X-ray crystallography of antibody/antigen protein complexes. DiscoTope is the first method to focus explicitly on discontinuous epitopes. We show that the new structure-based method has a better performance for predicting residues of discontinuous epitopes than methods based solely on sequence information, and that it

SUBMITTER: Haste Andersen P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2242418 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature