Protein-protein interactions: Coupling of structurally conserved residues and of hot spots across interfaces. Implications for docking

Inbal Halperin, Haim Wolfson, Ruth Nussinov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

129 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hot spot residues contribute dominantly to protein-protein interactions. Statistically, conserved residues correlate with hot spots, and their occurrence can distinguish between binding sites and the remainder of the protein surface. The hot spot and conservation analyses have been carried out on one side of the interface. Here, we show that both experimental hot spots and conserved residues tend to couple across two-chain interfaces. Intriguingly, the local packing density around both hot spots and conserved residues is higher than expected. We further observe a correlation between local packing density and experimental ΔΔG. Favorable conserved pairs include Gly coupled with aromatics, charged and polar residues, as well as aromatic residue coupling. Remarkably, charged residue couples are underrepresented. Overall, protein-protein interactions appear to consist of regions of high and low packing density, with the hot spots organized in the former. The high local packing density in binding interfaces is reminiscent of protein cores.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1027-1038
Number of pages12
JournalStructure
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2004

Funding

FundersFunder number
Hermann Minkowsky-Minerva Center for Geometry at Tel-Aviv University
National Canter Institute of HealthNO1-CO-12400
National Cancer InstituteZ01BC010441
Academy of Leisure Sciences
Israel Science Foundation

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