Bluues server: electrostatic properties of wild-type and mutated protein structures.

Abstract

Electrostatic calculations are an important tool for deciphering many functional mechanisms in proteins. Generalized Born (GB) models offer a fast and convenient computational approximation over other implicit solvent-based electrostatic models. Here we present a novel GB-based web server, using the program Bluues, to calculate numerous electrostatic features including pKa-values and surface potentials. The output is organized allowing both experts and beginners to rapidly sift the data. A novel feature of the Bluues server is that it explicitly allows to find electrostatic differences between wild-type and mutant structures. The Bluues server, examples and extensive help files are available for non-commercial use at URL: http://protein.bio.unipd.it/bluues/.