Cited by 104Protein Structure and DynamicsEnzyme Structure and FunctionMachine Learning in Bioinformatics

AlphaFold2 reveals commonalities and novelties in protein structure space for 21 model organisms

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Bordin, Nicola, Sillitoe, Ian, Nallapareddy, Vamsi, Rauer, Clemens, Lam, Su Datt, Waman, Vaishali P., Sen, Neeladri, Heinzinger, Michael +6 more·2023·Communications Biology

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Abstract

Abstract Deep-learning (DL) methods like DeepMind’s AlphaFold2 (AF2) have led to substantial improvements in protein structure prediction. We analyse confident AF2 models from 21 model organisms using a new classification protocol (CATH-Assign) which exploits novel DL methods for structural comparison and classification. Of ~370,000 confident models, 92% can be assigned to 3253 superfamilies in our CATH domain superfamily classification. The remaining cluster into 2367 putative novel superfamilies. Detailed manual analysis on 618 of these, having at least one human relative, reveal extremely remote homologies and further unusual features. Only 25 novel superfamilies could be confirmed. Although most models map to existing superfamilies, AF2 domains expand CATH by 67% and increases the number of unique ‘global’ folds by 36% and will provide valuable insights on structure function relationships. CATH-Assign will harness the huge expansion in structural data provided by DeepMind to rationalise evolutionary changes driving functional divergence.

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Crossref · 10.1038/s42003-023-04488-9

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  • Numerous areas within the life sciences have experienced considerable impact due to the availability of accurately predicted protein structures, notably structure determination, structure-based drug discovery, and structural bioinformatics.

    “As a result, numerous areas within the life sciences have experienced considerable impact due to the availability of accurately predicted protein structures. The primary domains notably affected include structure determination, structure-based drug discovery, and structural bioinformatics (11–13).”

    From AlphaFold Protein Structure Database in 2024: providing structure coverage for over 214 million protein sequences (2024) · cites this paper as [11]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says the scale and accuracy of AlphaFold2 models are likely to be a gamechanger for biological and medical research, and describes their use in structural classification. It does not establish that considerable impact has already occurred in structure determination or structure-based drug discovery; its broader impact statement is prospective. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [3]Gromiha, M. M., Nagarajan, R. & Selvaraj, S. Encyclopedia of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology 445–459 (Elsevier, 2019).
  2. [16]Reid, A.J., Addou, S., Rentzsch, R., Ranea, J. & Orengo, C. Evolutionary Genomics and Systems Biology (ed. Caetano-Anollés, G.) 231–250 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010).

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Authors
Bordin, N., Sillitoe, I., Nallapareddy, V., Rauer, C., Lam, S. D., Waman, V. P., Sen, N., Heinzinger, M., Littmann, M., Kim, S., Velankar, S., Steinegger, M., Rost, B., & Orengo, C.
Affiliations
  • Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology (GB)
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
  • Seoul National University (KR)
  • European Bioinformatics Institute (GB)
Corresponding author
Orengo, Christine
Venue
Communications Biology
Published
2023-02-08
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
160-160
ISSN
2399-3642 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4319593844
Cited by
103
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 10
FWCI
8.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Communications Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University) (submittedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
  • Wellcome Trust (BB/R014892/1, 221327/Z/20/Z, 221327, BB/T002735/1)
  • European Molecular Biology Laboratory
  • DeepMind
  • National Research Foundation (2019R1A6A1A10073437, 2021-R1C1-C102065)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-GZ: RO1320/4-1, RO1320/4‐1)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01IS17049)
  • Seoul National University
  • National Research Foundation of Korea (2021-R1C1-C102065, 2021-M3A9-I4021220, 2020M3‐A9G7‐103933, 2019R1-A6A1-A10073437)
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R014892/1, BB/R009597/1, BB/V014722/1, BB/S020039/1, BB/T002735/1, 221327/Z/20/Z, BB/S020144/1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Enzyme Structure and Function
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Machine Learning in Bioinformatics
Keywords
AlphaFold2, protein structure prediction, model organisms, remote homology, protein fold evolution, structure-function relationship
MeSH terms
Furylfuramide, Humans, Proteins, Databases, Protein

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