Protein Structure and Diseases

Structural genomics is the systematic determination of 3D structures of proteins representative of the range of protein structure and function found in nature. The goal is to build a body of structural information that will predict the structure and potential function for almost any protein from knowledge of its coding sequence. This is essential information for understanding the functioning of the human proteome, the ensemble of tens of thousands of proteins specified by the human genome.

While most structural biologists pursue structures of individual proteins or protein groups, specialists in structural genomics pursue structures of proteins on a genome wide scale. This implies large-scale cloning, expression and purification. One main advantage of this approach is economy of scale.

Examines the three dimensional structure of all proteins of a given organism, by experimental methods such as X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopyLooks at structural genomics as a foundation of drug discovery as discovering new medicines is becoming more challenging and the pharmaceutical industry is looking to new technologies to help in this mission

1. Graphical representation and mathematical characterization of protein sequences and applications to viral proteins Ambarnil Ghosh and Ashesh Nandy
2. Structural, thermodynamic and mechanistical studies in uroporphyrinogen III synthase. Molecular basis of congenital erythropoietic porphyria Arola Fortian, David Castaño, Esperanza Gonzalez, Ana Laín, Juan M. Falcon-Perez and Oscar Millet
3. Role of Fibrin Structure in Thrombosis and Vascular Disease Amy L. Cilia La Corte, Helen Philippou and Robert A. S. Ariëns
4. Structural, Dynamic, and Functional Aspects of Helix Association in Membranes: a Computational View Anton A. Polyansky, Pavel E. Volynsky, Roman G. Efremov
5. Proteins MOVE! Protein dynamics and long-range allostery in cell signaling Zimei Bu and David J. E. Callaway
6. Structural diversity of class I MHC like molecules and its implications in binding specificities Md. Imtaiyaz Hassan and Faizan Ahmad