Structural Analysis
Sequence to structure to interaction: a staged workflow.
A sequence becomes candidate models, each with a confidence value per residue.
A real antibody Fv (PDB 3HFM), coloured by the secondary structure in its coordinates. It shows what a model looks like; nothing was predicted here.
The pipeline
Select a step to see it.
Sequence
The starting input, as supplied.
Structural prediction
Candidate models with per-residue confidence.
Molecular docking
Candidate ways two molecules might associate. A score orders poses; it is not a binding affinity.
Molecular dynamics
Whether the arrangement is maintained in a simulation.
Interaction analysis
Which residues make contact across the interface. On this antibody–lysozyme complex the pairs are walked one at a time, each with its contact type and distance. Proximity in a structure is not proof of an interaction.
Research summary
What the data suggests is worth testing next.
Select another step to see the next.
A staged pipeline, not one technique. Each stage answers something the previous one cannot, and each carries its own assumptions.
Treating prediction, docking, and simulation as interchangeable is the most common way structural work goes wrong.
From Inputs to Insights
- A sequence, or one or more structure files
- A partner molecule, if there is one
- The question the analysis has to answer
Applications
Prediction produces candidate models; docking and MD ask different questions of them. Neither establishes biological truth on its own; results are computational evidence for experimental follow-up.
Have a structure to understand?
Combine structural modelling, docking and simulation to examine how a molecular system behaves beyond a single static model.
