Identification of local conformational similarity in structurally variable regions of homologous proteins using protein blocks.

ABSTRACT: Structure comparison tools can be used to align related protein structures to identify structurally conserved and variable regions and to infer functional and evolutionary relationships. While the conserved regions often superimpose well, the variable regions appear non superimposable. Differences in homologous protein structures are thought to be due to evolutionary plasticity to accommodate diverged sequences during evolution. One of the kinds of differences between 3-D structures of homologous proteins is rigid body displacement. A glaring example is not well superimposed equivalent regions of homologous proteins corresponding to α-helical conformation with different spatial orientations. In a rigid body superimposition, these regions would appear variable although they may contain loca

SUBMITTER: Agarwal G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3060819 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature