title: LINKER: a program to generate linker sequences for fusion proteins.
abstract: The construction of functional fusion proteins often requires a linker sequence that adopts an extended conformation to allow for maximal flexibility. Linker sequences are generally selected based on intuition. Without a reliable selection criterion, the design of such linkers is often difficult, particularly in situations where longer linker sequences are required. Here we describe a program called LINKER which can automatically generate a set of linker sequences that are known to adopt extended conformations as determined by X-ray crystallography and NMR. The only required input to the program is the desired linker sequence length. The program is specifically designed to assist in fusion protein construction. A number of optional input parameters have been incorporated so that users are able to enhance sequence selection based on specific applications. The program output simply contains a set of sequences with a specified length. This program should be a useful tool in both the biotechnology industry and biomedical research. It can be accessed through the Web page http://www.fccc. edu/research/labs/feng/linker.html.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 7701 Burholme Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Crasto
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003628:Database Management Systems; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins