PreprintCited by 226Protein Structure and DynamicsEnzyme Structure and FunctionMachine Learning in Bioinformatics

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Predicting the structure of large protein complexes using AlphaFold and Monte Carlo tree search

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Preprint — published as 10.1038/s41467-022-33729-4

Abstract

AlphaFold can predict the structure of single- and multiple-chain proteins with very high accuracy. However, the accuracy decreases with the number of chains, and the available GPU memory limits the size of protein complexes which can be predicted. Here we show that one can predict the structure of large complexes starting from predictions of subcomponents. We assemble 91 out of 175 complexes with 10-30 chains from predicted subcomponents using Monte Carlo tree search, with a median TM-score of 0.51. There are 30 highly accurate complexes (TM-score ≥0.8, 33% of complete assemblies). We create a scoring function, mpDockQ, that can distinguish if assemblies are complete and predict their accuracy. We find that complexes containing symmetry are accurately assembled, while asymmetrical complexes remain challenging. The method is freely available and accesible as a Colab notebook https://colab.research.google.com/github/patrickbryant1/MoLPC/blob/master/MoLPC.ipynb .

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Metadata

Authors
Bryant, P., Pozzati, G., Zhu, W., Shenoy, A., Kundrotas, P., & Elofsson, A.
Affiliations
  • Stockholm University (SE)
  • University of Kansas (US)
Corresponding author
Bryant, Patrick
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
openRxiv
Published
2022-03-12
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
6028-6028
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4304731451
Cited by
226
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 28 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 9
FWCI
16.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • KU ScholarWorks (University of Kansas) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Swedish e-Science Research Centre
  • Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (Berzelius-2021-29.)
  • Vetenskapsrådet (2021-03979, 2016-06301, Berzelius-2021-29)
  • Stockholms Universitet
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Structural Biology › Enzyme Structure and Function
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Machine Learning in Bioinformatics
Keywords
protein complex structure prediction, AlphaFold, Monte Carlo tree search, protein symmetry, GPU memory constraints
MeSH terms
Monte Carlo Method, Proteins

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