AI-guided discovery of atypical protein assemblies
Toghani, A.; Seager, B. A.; Sugihara, Y.; Roijen, L.-M.; Azcue, J. M.; Garro, M.; Sargolzaei, M.; Morianou, I.; Harant, A.; Gallop et al.
Loading
Fetching the latest research
Toghani, A.; Seager, B. A.; Sugihara, Y.; Roijen, L.-M.; Azcue, J. M.; Garro, M.; Sargolzaei, M.; Morianou, I.; Harant, A.; Gallop et al.
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as AlphaFold have transformed structural biology by enabling accurate prediction of protein structures. However, their capacity to uncover new classes of macromolecular assemblies remains largely untapped. We developed the Structural Novelty Index (SNI), a quantitative framework for identifying protein complexes that diverge from canonical architectures. As one implementation of SNI, we developed SNINRC-Hexa, to identify unconventional resistosomes formed by nucleotide-binding, leucine-rich repeat immune receptors (NLRs). We used it to analyze AlphaFold 3 models of 637 non-redundant NRC proteins from 346 genomes representing 85 plant species. This analysis identified candidates with predicted architectures distinct from the canonical hexameric resistosomes of NRC proteins. Biochemical purification and negative-stain transmission electron microscopy of NRC7 orthologs from multiple species supported the SNI prediction and revealed an unexpected undecameric (11-mer) assembly. Our results establish SNI as a scalable approach for discovering atypical protein complexes.
AlphaFold gets an upgrade with the Structural Novelty Index (SNI) to hunt weird protein complexes, uncovering an 11-mer "undecameric" resistosome assembly that flips the usual hexamer script like a quirky oligomer surprise party.
Posted by PhD student AmirAli Toghani (@amiralito_) highlighting protein assembly discovery as the next big thing after structure prediction, praised for the novel SNI framework and unexpected 11-mer findings
View discussion on XPeer review in progress...
Loading...
CD4⁺ T cells confer transplantable rejuvenation via Rivers of telomeres
Lanna, A.; Valvo, S.; Dustin, M.; Rinaldi, F.
Using a GPT-5-driven autonomous lab to optimize the cost and titer of cell-free protein synthesis
Smith, A. A.; Wong, E. L.; Donovan, R. C.; Chapman, B. A.; Harry, R.; Tirandazi, P.; Kanigowska, P.; Gendreau, E. A.; Dahl, R. H.; Jastrzebski, M.; Cortez, J. E.; Bremner, C. J.; Hemuda, J. C. M.; Dooner, J.; Graves, I.; Karandikar, R.; Lionetti, C.; Christopher, K.; Consiglio, A. L.; Tran, A.; McCusker, W.; Nguyen, D. X.; Nunes da Silva, I. B.; Bautista-Ayala, A. R.; McNerney, M. P.; Atkins, S.; McDuffie, M.; Serber, W.; Barber, B. P.; Thanongsinh, T.; Nesson, A.; Lama, B.; Nichols, B.; LaFrance, C.; Nyima, T.; Byrn, A.; Thornhill, R.; Cai, B.; Ayala-Valdez, L.; Wong, A.; Che, A. J.; Thavaraj
A Single-Cell and Spatial 3D Multi-omic Atlas of Developing Human Basal Ganglia and Inhibitory Neurons
Heffel, M. G.; Xu, H.; Pastor-Alonso, O.; Li, X.; Baig, M. S.; Irfan Ghoor, R.; Li, R.; Kern, C.; Kum, J.; Zhang, Y.; Paino, J.; Tsai, M. J.; Tai, C.-Y.; Tucker, G.; Zhao, Z.; Hou, A.; von Behren, Z.; Bhade, M.; Li, S.; Sandoval, K.; Scholes, J.; Codrea, F.; Calimlim, J.; Liao, E. K.; Leung, G.; Kim, J.; Eskin, E.; Flint, J.; Cotter, J. A.; Pasaniuc, B.; Bintu, B.; Zhu, Q.; Mukamel, E. A.; Ernst, J.; Paredes, M. F.; Luo, C.
Prediction of transformative breakthroughs in biomedical research
Davis, M. T.; Busse, B. L.; Arabi, S.; Meyer, P.; Hoppe, T. A.; Meseroll, R. A.; Hutchins, B. I.; Willis, K. A.; Santangelo, G. M.