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Biomedical subjects

D S Fields

Publications and source records attributed to D S Fields.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

SAMIE: statistical algorithm for modeling interaction energies.

We are investigating the rules that govern protein-DNA interactions, using a statistical mechanics based formalism that is related to the Boltzmann Machine of the neural net literature. Our approach is data-driven, in which probabilistic algorithms are used to model protein-DNA interactions, given SELEX and/or phage data as input. In the current report, we trained the network using SELEX data, under the "one-to-one" model of interactions (i.e. one amino acid contacts one base). The trained network was able to successfully identify the wild-type binding sites of EGR and MIG protein families. The predictions using our method are the same or better than that of methods existing in the literature. However our methodology offers the potential to capitalise in quantitative detail, as well as to be used to explore more general model of interactions, given availability of data.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1998

Specificity, free energy and information content in protein-DNA interactions.

Site-specific DNA-protein interactions can be studied using experimental and computational methods. Experimental approaches typically analyze a protein-DNA interaction by measuring the free energy of binding under a variety of conditions. Computational methods focus on alignments of known binding sites for a protein, and, from these alignments, make estimates of the binding energy. Understanding the relationship between these two perspectives, and finding ways to improve both, is a major challenge of modern molecular biology.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1997

Quantitative specificity of the Mnt repressor.

The Mnt protein of Salmonella phage P22 binds site-specifically to its operator. To better understand this binding we used dideoxy DNA sequencing in a quantitative manner to determine the relative binding constants, and hence the relative free energies, of wild-type Mnt protein to a substantial number of variants of its operator. These measurements were supported by experiments which used the SELEX procedure to generate a set of operators from an initially randomized population. In the Discussion we show that the present model of Mnt protein/operator binding, due to Sauer and co-workers, along with the assumption of an independent contribution of each position in the operator to the total binding, provides a reasonably accurate description of the system. We also discuss the use of information content as a measure of DNA-protein binding specificity with the Mnt protein/operator system serving as an example and show again that the assumption of independence supports the current view of this case of site-specific binding.

Bacteriophage P22↗
PubMed1996

An analysis of large rRNA sequences folded by a thermodynamic method.

BACKGROUND: The secondary structure of RNA can be predicted by the thermodynamics-based method of Zuker and Turner. The accuracy of the method's secondary structure predictions for rRNA can be assessed by using as reference the currently available rRNA secondary structure models that have been derived from comparative analysis of rRNA sequence alignments. RESULTS: We folded 72 23S rRNA sequences with the Zuker-Turner method and scored the resulting secondary structure predictions against the comparative model. Empirically, trends in the score were observed as a function of the phylogenetic memberships of the sequences and as a function of the base pairs secondary structural contexts. Further, three parameters were found that (anti-)correlate with the score. CONCLUSIONS: Three semiquantitative predictors of score were found: % of noncanonical base pairs, % of hairpin loops that were stable tetraloops, and sequence %G + C. The folding of rRNA is a tractable problem and thermodynamics-based folding algorithms, in particular, are useful in the study of this folding problem even for large RNA molecules (e.g. 16S and 23S rRNA).

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Quantitative DNA sequencing to determine the relative protein-DNA binding constants to multiple DNA sequences.

DNA sequencing technology was modified into a quantitative assay, which for multiple DNA sequences allowed the simultaneous determination of relative protein-DNA binding constants. The band mobility shift of the protein-DNA binding reactions partitions the mixture of DNA sequences into bound and unbound fractions. The quantitation of that partitioning gives directly the relative binding constants, usually with accuracies of better than +/- 20%. The protein of interest was the Mnt repressor of Salmonella bacteriophage P22, and the synthetic DNA contained Mnt's natural operator with a randomized position.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗