Engineering of stable and fast-folding sequences of model proteins.

Shakhnovich, E I; Gutin, A M · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 1993

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The statistical mechanics of protein folding implies that the best-folding proteins are those that have the native conformation as a pronounced energy minimum. We show that this can be obtained by proper selection of protein sequences and suggest a simple practical way to find these sequences. The statistical mechanics of these proteins with optimized native structure is discussed. These concepts are tested with a simple lattice model of a protein with full enumeration of compact conformations. Selected sequences are shown to have a native state that is very stable and kinetically accessible.

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