AI has found the most complex protein knot in the history of research

The researchers explained that the chemical composition of a protein determines its three-dimensional structure, and there's more to it than that.

half a century one of the biggest problems inbiophysics. Knowledge of protein folding is in high demand because it makes a significant contribution to the understanding of various diseases and their treatment. So Google's DeepMind research team developed AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence that predicts 3D structures.

Now a team of researchers fromJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the University of California, Los Angeles, studied these structures in more detail and considered them in relation to knots. Knotted proteins can not only be used to evaluate the quality of structure predictions, but also raise important questions about the mechanisms of protein folding and evolution.

one of the generated proteins

They studied over 100,000generated new protein nodes. Their goal was to identify rare high-quality structures containing complex and previously unknown protein knots to provide a basis for experimental testing of AlphaFold predictions. During the study, they found the most complex knot protein in the history of research.

“New discoveries also make it possible to understandevolutionary mechanisms underlying such rare proteins,” said Robert Rankel, a theoretical physicist who also participated in the project. The results of the study appeared in the journal Protein Science.

“We have already established cooperation with the Californiauniversity to confirm these structures experimentally. This line of research will shape the understanding of the biophysics community about artificial intelligence,” the scientists added.

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