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From structure to function: Approaches and limitations

Nature Structural Biology volume 7, pages 991–994 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

This review presents a summary of current approaches to extract functional information from structural data on proteins and their complexes. While structural homologs may reveal possible biochemical functions (which may be hidden at the sequence level), elucidating the exact biological role of a protein in vivo will only be possible by including other results, such as data on expression and localization.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: From fold to homologous superfamily to function.
Figure 3: Three dimensional template for the aspartic protease active site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Dept., University College, Gower Street, London, WC1 6BT , UK

    Janet M. Thornton, Annabel E. Todd, Duncan Milburn & Christine A. Orengo

  2. Crystallography Dept., Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London, WC1 7HX, UK

    Janet M. Thornton

  3. Roche Discovery Welwyn, Broadwater Rd , Welwyn Garden City, AL7 3AY, Hertfordshire, UK

    Neera Borkakoti

Authors
  1. Janet M. Thornton
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  2. Annabel E. Todd
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  4. Neera Borkakoti
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  5. Christine A. Orengo
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Correspondence to Janet M. Thornton.

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Thornton, J., Todd, A., Milburn, D. et al. From structure to function: Approaches and limitations. Nat Struct Mol Biol 7 (Suppl 11), 991–994 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/80784

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