Abstract Summary: IsoMIF Finder is an online server for the identification of molecular interaction field (MIF) similarities. User defined binding site MIFs can be compared to datasets of pre-calculated MIFs or against a user-defined list of PDB entries. The interface can be used for the prediction of function, identification of potential cross-reactivity or polypharmacological targets and drug repurposing. Detected similarities can be viewed in a browser or within a PyMOL session. Availability and Implementation: IsoMIF Finder uses JSMOL (no java plugin required), is cross-browser and freely available at bcb.med.usherbrooke.ca/imfi. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

MOTIVATION: An increasing amount of evidence from experimental and computational analysis suggests that rare codon clusters are functionally important for protein activity. Most of the studies on rare codon clusters were performed on a limited number of proteins or protein families. In the present study, we present the Sherlocc program and how it can be used for large scale protein family analysis of evolutionarily conserved rare codon clusters and their relation to protein function and structure. This large-scale analysis was performed using the whole Pfam database covering over 70% of the known protein sequence universe. Our program Sherlocc, detects statistically relevant conserved rare codon clusters and produces a user-friendly HTML output. RESULTS: Statistically significant rare codon clusters were detected in a multitude of Pfam protein families. The most statistically significant rare codon clusters were predominantly identified in N-terminal Pfam families. Many of the longest rare codon clusters are found in membrane-related proteins which are required to interact with other proteins as part of their function, for example in targeting or insertion. We identified some cases where rare codon clusters can play a regulating role in the folding of catalytically important domains. Our results support the existence of a widespread functional role for rare codon clusters across species. Finally, we developed an online filter-based search interface that provides access to Sherlocc results for all Pfam families. AVAILABILITY: The Sherlocc program and search interface are open access and are available at http://bcb.med.usherbrooke.ca

MOTIVATION: Protein movements form a continuum from large domain rearrangements (including folding and restructuring) to side-chain rotamer changes and small rearrangements. Understanding side-chain flexibility upon binding is important to understand molecular recognition events and predict ligand binding. METHODS: In the present work, we developed a well-curated non-redundant dataset of 188 proteins in pairs of structures in the Apo (unbound) and Holo (bound) forms to study the extent and the factors that guide side-chain rotamer changes upon binding. RESULTS: Our analysis shows that side-chain rotamer changes are widespread with only 10% of binding sites displaying no conformational changes. Overall, at most five rotamer changes account for the observed movements in 90% of the cases. Furthermore, rotamer changes are essential in 32% of flexible binding sites. The different amino acids have a 11-fold difference in their probability to undergo changes. Side-chain flexibility represents an intrinsic property of amino acids as it correlates well with configurational entropy differences. Furthermore, on average b-factors and solvent accessible surface areas can discriminate flexible side-chains in the Apo form. Finally, there is a rearrangement of the hydrogen-bonding network upon binding primarily with a loss of H-bonds with water molecules and a gain of H-bonds with protein residues for flexible residues. Interestingly, only 25% of side chains capable of forming H-bonds do so with the ligand upon binding. In terms of drug design, this last result shows that there is a large number of potential interactions that may be exploited to modulate the specificity and sensitivity of inhibitors. CONTACT: [email protected].