What is it about?

Lasso is a kind of a protein shape. It arises if the backbone is closed by some covalent bridge, e.g. disulfide bridge. The loop which arises in that way can be then pierced by the tail. The LassoProt database collects data about such protein and classifies them according to the complexity and number of piercings. The motif is colocated with the basic biological data.

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Why is it important?

The lasso is a relatively new class of protein shape, nevertheless, it is present in approximately 6% of all proteins. Its function is still unclear, however, the lasso shape may strongly influence biophysical properties and biological behavior of proteins.

Perspectives

The database may be used to find proteins of given shape or to find the connection between the protein topology and function. In the latter case, it can be used next to design topologically stabilized proteins.

Pawel Dabrowski-Tumanski
University of Warsaw

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: LassoProt: server to analyze biopolymers with lassos, Nucleic Acids Research, April 2016, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw308.
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