Structural assessment of the effects of amino acid substitutions on protein stability and protein protein interaction

Int J Comput Biol Drug Des. 2010;3(4):334-49. doi: 10.1504/IJCBDD.2010.038396. Epub 2011 Feb 4.

Abstract

A structure-based approach is described for predicting the effects of amino acid substitutions on protein function. Structures were predicted using a homology modelling method. Folding and binding energy differences between wild-type and mutant structures were computed to quantitatively assess the effects of amino acid substitutions on protein stability and protein protein interaction, respectively. We demonstrated that pathogenic mutations at the interaction interface could affect binding energy and destabilise protein complex, whereas mutations at the non-interface might reduce folding energy and destabilise monomer structure. The results suggest that the structure-based analysis can provide useful information for understanding the molecular mechanisms of diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution*
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Stability*