Over 2600 genetic diseases have been found where a change in a single gene is linked to the disease. One of the questions we might ask is how those mutations change the shape and possibly the function of a protein?
If the structures of the mutant and wild type (normal) proteins have been solved, NCBI has a program called VAST that can be used to align those structures. I have an example here where you can see how a single amino acid change makes influenza resistant to Tamiflu®.
This 4 minute movie below shows how we can obtain those aligned structures from VAST and view them with Cn3D.
CN3D and VAST from Sandra Porter on Vimeo.
More like this
Why do I love Cn3D? Let me count the ways.
What does Cn3D do? (Hint: say "Cn3D" out loud).
Have you ever wondered how to view and annotate molecular structures? At least digital versions?
It's surprisingly easy and lots of fun.
Today, we're going to look for rainbows in double-stranded DNA and see what they can tell us about DNA structure.
First, we're going to get a structure for a double-stranded molecule of DNA and open it in Cn3D.
Some people, like Imelda Marcos and our new Dr. Isis, have a thing for fancy shoes.
I go crazy for gadgets.
I love this! If only more mutant structures had been solved, this could really help my work.
Thanks Rob!
You'd be surprised, I think, at how many structures are available! Every day, I find new ones in the database.