Protein design

Protein design creates or modifies amino acid sequences to produce proteins with specified structures, functions, or properties. It can use computational methods, experimental selection, or both.

Protein structure prediction: The inference of a protein’s three-dimensional structure from its amino acid sequence. Predicted structures help assess whether candidate sequences can adopt the intended fold.
Amino acid: An organic molecule containing amino and carboxyl groups; amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Their side-chain chemistry gives designed sequences distinct interaction possibilities.
De novo protein design: The creation of protein sequences and structures without starting from a naturally occurring protein scaffold. It pursues structures and functions not limited to natural protein templates.
Rational protein engineering: The deliberate alteration of a protein using hypotheses about how specific sequence changes affect its properties. It typically starts from an existing protein, whereas design can specify a protein more broadly from desired targets.
Protein function prediction: The inference of a protein’s biological or biochemical role from sequence, structure, or experimental evidence. A plausible structure does not by itself establish that a designed protein performs its intended function.
Inverse folding: The computational task of finding amino acid sequences compatible with a specified protein structure. It directly reverses structure prediction by proposing sequences for a chosen fold.
Protein folding: The process by which a protein chain adopts a three-dimensional structure. A designed sequence must fold into the structure that supports its intended behavior.
Enzyme engineering: The modification or creation of enzymes to alter their catalytic properties. Protein design can produce catalysts tailored to particular reactions or conditions.
Protein engineering: The modification or creation of proteins to change their structure, function, or properties. Protein design is one approach within the broader practice of engineering proteins.
Protein–protein interaction: A physical association between two or more protein molecules. Designing reliable interfaces remains difficult because small structural errors can disrupt binding.

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