Folding non-homologous proteins by coupling deep-learning contact maps with I-TASSER assembly simulations

Cell Rep Methods. 2021 Jul 26;1(3):100014. doi: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2021.100014. Epub 2021 Jun 21.

Abstract

Structure prediction for proteins lacking homologous templates in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) remains a significant unsolved problem. We developed a protocol, C-I-TASSER, to integrate interresidue contact maps from deep neural-network learning with the cutting-edge I-TASSER fragment assembly simulations. Large-scale benchmark tests showed that C-I-TASSER can fold more than twice the number of non-homologous proteins than the I-TASSER, which does not use contacts. When applied to a folding experiment on 8,266 unsolved Pfam families, C-I-TASSER successfully folded 4,162 domain families, including 504 folds that are not found in the PDB. Furthermore, it created correct folds for 85% of proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, despite the quick mutation rate of the virus and sparse sequence profiles. The results demonstrated the critical importance of coupling whole-genome and metagenome-based evolutionary information with optimal structure assembly simulations for solving the problem of non-homologous protein structure prediction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • COVID-19*
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Deep Learning*
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Conformation
  • Proteins / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics

Substances

  • Proteins