Predictive and Experimental Approaches for Elucidating Protein–Protein Interactions and Quaternary Structures

John Nealon, Limcy Philomina, Liam McGuffin
2017 International Journal of Molecular Sciences  
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 (CCBY) Open Access Nealon, J. O., Philomina, L. S. and McGuffin, L. J. (2017) Predictive and experimental approaches for elucidating protein-protein interactions and quaternary structures. Abstract: The elucidation of protein-protein interactions is vital for determining the function and action of quaternary protein structures. Here, we discuss the difficulty and importance of establishing protein quaternary structure and review in vitro and in silico methods
more » ... r doing so. Determining the interacting partner proteins of predicted protein structures is very time-consuming when using in vitro methods, this can be somewhat alleviated by use of predictive methods. However, developing reliably accurate predictive tools has proved to be difficult. We review the current state of the art in predictive protein interaction software and discuss the problem of scoring and therefore ranking predictions. Current community-based predictive exercises are discussed in relation to the growth of protein interaction prediction as an area within these exercises. We suggest a fusion of experimental and predictive methods that make use of sparse experimental data to determine higher resolution predicted protein interactions as being necessary to drive forward development.
doi:10.3390/ijms18122623 pmid:29206185 pmcid:PMC5751226 fatcat:6ffy3cv2hzdvtf5kgvwitl3toy