Bioinformatics Research Group

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Our research group designs, develops and assesses computational tools for the exploration of genomic and proteomic data. As computer scientists, we also study algorithmic questions inspired by and related to biological problems. Finally, we collaborate with biologists to study the usefulness in practice of the methods we develop. Featured Research Project Structural Pattern Recognition For the vast majority of proteins, similar sequence implies similar function. This is the foundation for many tools in bioinformatics, and has been instrumental in the annotation of newly sequenced genomes. However, there are exceptions in which proteins with highly similar sequence can have quite different biological functions, and conversely proteins with very divergent sequences can be functionally similar. To identify functional similarities independent of sequence, we have developed structural pattern recognition techniques for identifying binding and protein interaction surfaces. Antifreeze proteins provide an example of proteins in which sequence is a poor predictor of function. We have found that a common surface pattern (repeated carbon atoms matching the ice lattice) is shared by antifreeze proteins, independent of sequence or fold. This pattern can be used to predict antifreeze activity, and has been used to identify a novel antifreeze protein homologous to lipid transfer proteins.

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