CAREER: Public Service System for Automated Protein Structure Predictions

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Kansas Center for Research Inc. is awarded a grant by the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program to develop a public service system for automated and reliable protein structure prediction based on the I-TASSER method. Recent years' CASP experiments have seen significant progress on protein 3D structure prediction. Medium to high-resolution structures can be predicted by the state-of-the-art methodologies through the combination of comparative modeling, threading and ab initio modeling techniques. The high-resolution models can be used for the analysis of biochemical function of the molecules in cells and for virtual ligand screening. The algorithms will be further improved by combining the I-TASSER structure assemble method with the meta-server threading techniques. As a complement to the full-length I-TASSER modeling, a locally installed meta-threading server (LOMETS) will be developed for the generation of multiple threading alignments and spatial restraints. The improvements will significantly increase the capacity of the service system to serve for the community, and help improve the quality of the core algorithms which the server systems are based on. The educational activities of the award involve development of four courses in structural bioinformatics as part of a bioinformatics program at KU. The project will also develop outreach materials in protein sequence-structure-function principles and participate in an annual multicultural roadshow designed to recruit underrepresented students to KU.