Community structure description in amino acid interaction networks

Interdiscip Sci. 2011 Mar;3(1):50-6. doi: 10.1007/s12539-011-0061-1. Epub 2011 Mar 3.

Abstract

In this paper, we represent proteins by amino acid interaction networks. This is a graph whose vertices are the protein's amino acids and whose edges are the interactions between them. We begin by identifying the main topological properties of these interaction networks using graph theory measures. We observe that the amino acids interact specifically, according to their structural role, and depending on whether they participate or not in the secondary structure. Thus, certain amino acids tend to group together to form local clouds. Then, we study the formation of node aggregations through community structure detections. We observe that the composition of organizations confirms a specific aggregation between loops around a core composed of secondary.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Models, Molecular
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs*
  • Protein Interaction Maps*
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary