-
How are 3D macromolecular structures obtained?
- Accurate: 83% by X-ray crystallography, 15% by NMR
- Rough: Comparative modeling, but templates available for
only ~20% of domains.
- Ab initio theory does not predict tertiary structure
accurately enough for most purposes.
-
What percentage of the human proteome has known structure?
- ~2% accurately (empirical).
- ~20% roughly (comparative modeling).
- Solution: Structural Genomics?
(Not in the next few years.)
-
Some proteins are intrinsically unstructured/natively disordered
in order best to support their functions.
This slide by
Eric Martz, University of Massachusetts
July 2003
(revised February 2004,
October 2004, January 2005, April 2007)