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Title: Energy Minimization of Discrete Protein Titration State Models Using Graph Theory

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry

There are several applications in computational biophysics which require the optimization of discrete interacting states; e.g., amino acid titration states, ligand oxidation states, or discrete rotamer angles. Such optimization can be very time-consuming as it scales exponentially in the number of sites to be optimized. In this paper, we describe a new polynomial-time algorithm for optimization of discrete states in macromolecular systems. This algorithm was adapted from image processing and uses techniques from discrete mathematics and graph theory to restate the optimization problem in terms of maximum flow-minimum cut graph analysis. The interaction energy graph, a graph in which vertices (amino acids) and edges (interactions) are weighted with their respective energies, is transformed into a flow network in which the value of the minimum cut in the network equals the minimum free energy of the protein, and the cut itself encodes the state that achieves the minimum free energy. Because of its deterministic nature and polynomial-time performance, this algorithm has the potential to allow for the ionization state of larger proteins to be discovered.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1331738
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-111332; 453040220
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry, Vol. 120, Issue 33; ISSN 1520-6106
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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