Home Page Schedule Assignments Project

Structural Biochemistry and Bioinformatics

Project for Structural Biochemistry and Bioinformatics

You are working as an expert in structural bioinformatics in a pharmaceutical company. One day doctor K comes to you as says. "I have found this very important protein sequence. I think it is associated with some diease, but I do not know which one. Can you help me to find out more about it ? I want to know what the function might be, how the structure looks like and if it is associated with a disease".

These are steps that SHOULD be done and included in the presentation:

• Report about database searches
• Report about other prediction methods
• A homology model of the sequence. Describe what steps you have done to make the best possible model.
• Read an article about the protein that has been used as template for the homology model
• Read a paper (preferably a review) about your protein
• Evaluate the model from a structure-function perspective. Compare the actice site (if there is one) between the template and the model. How high is the sequence identity ? How good do you think your model is.

The project should be presented both as a paper (due 14/1) and as an oral presentation (16/1). The paper should contain at least 4 pages of text (and any amount of figures). It should be written in English and in the form of a short "scientific paper", i.e. it should include the following session: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results & Discusssions and Conclusions. If the paper is not delivered at this time you will not be allowed to give your oral presentation. The presentation should be for 15 minutes and include the most important findings.

You can choose to do the project alone or in a pairs, and a grade (U/G/VG) will be given and used together with the grade for the other parts to give you the grade of the whole course.

Important dates

1. 27/11 Project information
2. 11/12 Short presentation of project status
3. 8/1 Chance for help with project
4. 13/1 Chance for help with project
5. 14/1 Project paper should be submitted.
6. 16/1 Project Presentation