3D Structural Models of Transmembrane Proteins

Abstract

Transmembrane proteins are macromolecules implicated in major biological processes and diseases. Because of their specific neighborhood, few transmembrane protein structures are currently available. The building of structural models of transmembrane proteins is a major research area. Because of the lack of available 3D structures, automatic homology modeling is not an efficient way of proposing pertinent structural models. Hence, most of the structural models of transmembrane proteins are developed through a more complex protocol that comprises the use of secondary structure prediction to complete the comparative modeling process. Then, refinement and assessment steps are performed go often to a novel comparative modeling process. Nowadays, it is also possible to take attention to the helix–helix and helix–lipid interactions, and even build quaternary structures. In all cases, the most important factor when proceeding to correct structural models is taking the experimental data into account.