Sequence Conservation, Radial Distance and Packing Density in Spherical Viral Capsids.

ABSTRACT: The conservation level of a residue is a useful measure about the importance of that residue in protein structure and function. Much information about sequence conservation comes from aligning homologous sequences. Profiles showing the variation of the conservation level along the sequence are usually interpreted in evolutionary terms and dictated by site similarities of a proper set of homologous sequences. Here, we report that, of the viral icosahedral capsids, the sequence conservation profile can be determined by variations in the distances between residues and the centroid of the capsid - with a direct inverse proportionality between the conservation level and the centroid distance - as well as by the spatial variations in local packing density. Examining both the centroid and the pac

SUBMITTER: Chang CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4488880 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature