Structural genomics and its importance for gene function analysis

Structural genomics projects aim to solve the experimental structures of al l possible protein folds. Such projects entail a conceptual shift from trad itional structural biology in which structural information is obtained on k nown proteins to one in which the structure of a protein is determined firs t and the function assigned only later. Whereas the goal of converting prot ein structure into function can be accomplished by traditional sequence mot if-based approaches, recent studies have shown that assignment of a protein 's biochemical function can also be achieved by scanning its structure for a match to the geometry and chemical identity of a known active site. Impor tantly, this approach can use tow-resolution structures provided by contemp orary structure prediction methods. When applied to genomes, structural inf ormation (either experimental or predicted) is likely to play an important role in high-throughput function assignment.