Highly similar structural frames link the template tunnel and NTP entry tunnel to the exterior surface in RNA-dependent RNA polymerases.

ABSTRACT: RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is essential to viral replication and is therefore one of the primary targets of countermeasures against these dangerous infectious agents. Development of broad-spectrum therapeutics targeting polymerases has been hampered by the extreme sequence variability of these sequences. RdRps range in length from 400-800 residues, yet contain only ∼20 residues that are conserved in most species. In this study, we made structure-based comparisons that are independent of sequence composition using a recently developed algorithm. We identified residue-to-residue correspondences of multiple protein structures and created (two-dimensional) structure-based alignment maps of 37 polymerase structures that provide both sequence and structure details. Using these maps, we

SUBMITTER: Lang DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3561941 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature