AlphaFold Blindness to Topological Barriers Affects Its Ability to Correctly Predict Proteins' Topology.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_1F3E814014BC
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
AlphaFold Blindness to Topological Barriers Affects Its Ability to Correctly Predict Proteins' Topology.
Journal
Molecules
Author(s)
Dabrowski-Tumanski P., Stasiak A.
ISSN
1420-3049 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1420-3049
Publication state
Published
Issued date
07/11/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
28
Number
22
Pages
7462
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
AlphaFold is a groundbreaking deep learning tool for protein structure prediction. It achieved remarkable accuracy in modeling many 3D structures while taking as the user input only the known amino acid sequence of proteins in question. Intriguingly though, in the early steps of each individual structure prediction procedure, AlphaFold does not respect topological barriers that, in real proteins, result from the reciprocal impermeability of polypeptide chains. This study aims to investigate how this failure to respect topological barriers affects AlphaFold predictions with respect to the topology of protein chains. We focus on such classes of proteins that, during their natural folding, reproducibly form the same knot type on their linear polypeptide chain, as revealed by their crystallographic analysis. We use partially artificial test constructs in which the mutual non-permeability of polypeptide chains should not permit the formation of complex composite knots during natural protein folding. We find that despite the formal impossibility that the protein folding process could produce such knots, AlphaFold predicts these proteins to form complex composite knots. Our study underscores the necessity for cautious interpretation and further validation of topological features in protein structures predicted by AlphaFold.
Keywords
Protein Conformation, Models, Molecular, Proteins/chemistry, Protein Folding, Peptides, AlphaFold, knotted proteins, overlapping residues, protein structure prediction, residue gas model, topological barriers, topology validation
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
01/12/2023 10:34
Last modification date
19/12/2023 8:12
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