title: Protein sequence randomization: efficient estimation of protein stability using knowledge-based potentials.
abstract: Modifications of the amino acid sequence generally affect protein stability. Here, we use knowledge-based potentials to estimate the stability of protein structures under sequence variation. Calculations on a variety of protein scaffolds result in a clear distinction of known mutable regions from arbitrarily chosen control patches. For example, randomly changing the sequence of an antibody paratope yields a significantly lower number of destabilized mutants as compared to the randomization of comparable regions on the protein surface. The technique is computationally efficient and can be used to screen protein structures for regions that are amenable to molecular tinkering by preserving the stability of the mutated proteins.
authors.affiliation: Center of Applied Molecular Engineering, University of Salzburg, Jakob Haringerstrasse 5, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiederstein
authors.forename: Manfred J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sippl
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D011392:Proline / Q000032:analysis; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D015202:Protein Engineering; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D011392:Proline