Classification: understanding the diversity and principles of protein structure and function MCSG 2001 structures
Protein structure classification Main reference: Robert B. Russell (2002) Classification of Protein Folds. Molecular Biotechnology 20:17-28. Importance: central to studies of protein structure, function, and evolution Philosophy: phyletic vs. phenetic Method: structure comparison + human knowledge
Approaches Hierarchical Based on the types and arrangements of secondary structures Unit (level): domain Domain assignment - structural vs. functional (fold or function in isolation) - automated assignment methods (structure vs. sequence)
Assignment of Class All a or All b (could be subjective) a / b (bab unit) or a + b Other classes
Subjective class assignment
Assignment of Fold Defined by the number, type, and arrangement of SSEs Connectivity (e.g. circular permutation, scrambled proteins)
Circular Permutation (CP) B N A C B A C N C D C D ..A..B..C..D.. ..C..D..A..B..
Circular permutation example 1nls (Concanavalin) 1led (Lectin) C N N C
Scrambled protein pairs 1au1a_ (Interferon-b) 2occc_ (Cytochrome C oxidase)
Assignment of Superfamily Homologous even in the absence of significant sequence similarity - certain level of structural similarity - unusual structural features - low but significant sequence similarity from structural alignment - key active site residues - sequence similarity bridges Divergence vs. convergence
Assignment of Family significant sequence similarity
superfolds, superfamilies, supersites TIM barrel, Rossmann-like, ferredoxin-like, b-propellers, 4-helix bundle, Ig-like, b-jelly rolls, Oligonucleotide/oligosaccharride binding (OB) fold, SH3-like. Structure -> function (only 50% correct)
Structure implicates function?
Classification databases SCOP - careful assignment of evolutionary relationships; homologous vs. analogous CATH - A:architecture FSSP - a list of structural neighbors VAST - NCBI’s Entrez
CATH
Common Folds
Unique Folds
Structure Comparison Evolutionary relationship Growth factor Cytokine Evolutionary relationship Structure classification
9% sequence identity Shapiro & Harris, 2000
Structure Comparison Tools DALI ( http://www2.ebi.ac.uk/dali/ ) CE ( http://cl.sdsc.edu/ ) VAST (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/VAST/vast.html ) Prosup ( http://www.came.sbg.ac.at ) FLASH (http://thr.ibms.sinica.edu.tw/flash/)