Optimizing structural modeling for a specific protein scaffold: knottins or inhibitor cystine knots.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Knottins are small, diverse and stable proteins with important drug design potential. They can be classified in 30 families which cover a wide range of sequences (1621 sequenced), three-dimensional structures (155 solved) and functions (> 10). Inter knottin similarity lies mainly between 15% and 40% sequence identity and 1.5 to 4.5 Å backbone deviations although they all share a tightly knotted disulfide core. This important variability is likely to arise from the highly diverse loops which connect the successive knotted cysteines. The prediction of structural models for all knottin sequences would open new directions for the analysis of interaction sites and to provide a better understanding of the structural and functional organization of proteins sharing this scaffold

SUBMITTER: Gracy J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2984590 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature