Evaluating the efficacy of a structure-derived amino acid substitution matrix in detecting protein homologs by BLAST and PSI-BLAST

Nalin CW GoonesekereDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Northern iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USAAbstract: The large numbers of protein sequences generated by whole genome sequencing projects require rapid and accurate methods of annotation. The detection of homology through computatio...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nalin CW Goonesekere
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Dove Medical Press 2009-06-01
Series:Advances and Applications in Bioinformatics and Chemistry
Online Access:http://www.dovepress.com/evaluating-the-efficacy-of-a-structure-derived-amino-acid-substitution-a3236
Description
Summary:Nalin CW GoonesekereDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Northern iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USAAbstract: The large numbers of protein sequences generated by whole genome sequencing projects require rapid and accurate methods of annotation. The detection of homology through computational sequence analysis is a powerful tool in determining the complex evolutionary and functional relationships that exist between proteins. Homology search algorithms employ amino acid substitution matrices to detect similarity between proteins sequences. The substitution matrices in common use today are constructed using sequences aligned without reference to protein structure. Here we present amino acid substitution matrices constructed from the alignment of a large number of protein domain structures from the structural classification of proteins (SCOP) database. We show that when incorporated into the homology search algorithms BLAST and PSI-blaST, the structure-based substitution matrices enhance the efficacy of detecting remote homologs. Keywords: computational biology, protein homology, amino acid substitution matrix, protein structure
ISSN:1178-6949