New Techniques for Ancient Proteins: Direct Coupling Analysis Applied on Proteins Involved in Iron Sulfur Cluster Biogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Direct coupling analysis (DCA) is a powerful statistical inference tool used to study protein evolution. It was introduced to predict protein folds and protein-protein interactions, and has also been applied to the prediction of entire interactomes. Here, we have used it to analyze three proteins of the iron-sulfur biogenesis machine, an essential metabolic pathway conserved in all organisms. We show that DCA can correctly reproduce structural features of the CyaY/frataxin family (a protein involved in the human disease Friedreich's ataxia) despite being based on the relatively small number of sequences allowed by its genomic distribution. This result gives us confidence in the method. Its application to the iron-sulfur cluster scaffold protein IscU, which has been suggested to function bo

SUBMITTER: Fantini M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5471300 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature