Teresa Przytycka1, Rajeev Aurora1, 2
& George D. Rose1
1
Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
2
Current address: Monsanto, Mail Zone AA3G,
700 Chesterfield Parkway, St. Louis, Missouri
63198, USA.
Does a protein's secondary structure determine its three-dimensional fold?
This question is tested directly by analyzing proteins of known structure
and constructing a taxonomy based solely on secondary structure. The taxonomy
is generated automatically, and it takes the form of a tree in which proteins
with similar secondary structure occupy neighboring leaves. Our tree is largely
in agreement with results from the structural classification of proteins (SCOP),
a multidimensional classification based on homologous sequences, full three-dimensional
structure, information about chemistry and evolution, and human judgment.
Our findings suggest a simple mechanism of protein evolution.
