Protein Homology Modelling - Providing Three-Dimensional Models For Proteins Where Experimental Data Is Missing

A linear sequence of amino acid letters or a three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in a polypeptide chain? Most biologists and bioinformaticians will have their preferred view when imagining a "protein". Although these views represent two sides of the same coin, they are often difficult to reconcile. There are two main reasons for this: a lack of experimental structural information for the majority of proteins, and a different "culture" in handling data between the two communities, which results in a number of technical hurdles for somebody trying to bridge the gap between the two paradigms. Protein homology modelling resources establish a natural interface between sequence-based and structure-based approaches within the life science research community.