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S J de Vries

Publications and source records attributed to S J de Vries.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Data-driven docking: HADDOCK's adventures in CAPRI.

We have shown previously that given high-resolution structures of the unbound molecules, structure determination of protein complexes is possible by including biochemical and/or biophysical data as highly ambiguous distance restraints in a docking approach. We applied this method, implemented in the HADDOCK (High Ambiguity Driven DOCKing) package (Dominguez et al., J Am Chem Soc 2003;125:1731-1737), to the targets in the fourth and fifth rounds of CAPRI. Here we describe our results and analyze them in detail. Special attention is given to the role of flexibility in our docking method and the way in which this improves the docking results. We describe extensions to our approach that were developed as a direct result of our participation in CAPRI. In addition to experimental information, we also included interface residue predictions from PPISP (Protein-Protein Interaction Site Predictor; Zhou and Shan, Proteins 2001;44:336-343), a neural network method. Using HADDOCK we were able to generate acceptable structures for 6 of the 8 targets, and to submit at least 1 acceptable structure for 5 of them. Of these 5 submissions, 3 were of medium quality (Targets 10, 11, and 15) and 2 of high quality (Targets 13 and 14). In all cases, predictions were obtained containing at least 40% of the correct epitope at the interface for both ligand and receptor simultaneously.

Algorithms↗

Ambulatory accelerometry to quantify involuntary movements and tics in the syndrome of Gilles de la Tourette.

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent and involuntary tics, in addition to complex behavioral symptoms. Objective quantification of the nonspecific movements in Tourette patients can contribute much to understanding the pathophysiology of this disease. We used three accelerometers to characterize head movement patterns and to objectively quantify head motility in the lateral, sagittal, and transversal planes in 9 Tourette patients and 14 controls during periods of rest, conversation, and watching a videotape with an entertaining program. Characteristic head movement patterns can be documented by means of accelerometry. Head motility levels in the lateral, sagittal, and transversal planes were significantly higher in the patients than in the controls during all the procedures. The patients and the controls showed a similar significant increase in head motility during conversation, but not during video watching. This first study shows that for both standardized and ambulatory research, accelerometry may provide an objective tool by which to quantify the severity and temporal dynamics of tics or nonspecific movements.

Adult↗

Nature and severity of hydrocephalus and its relation to later intellectual function.

In 102 cases of infantile hydrocephalus, treated within 365 days of birth, the possibilities of predicting later intelligence were investigated, largely by means of multiple regression methods. No significant effect of aetiology, date of shunting or severity (measured in various ways) could be demonstrated. Within the spina bifida group however the 3 cases of encephalocele had considerably lower IQ's. There was no effect of lesion level in the rest of this group. Educational level of the parents had a significant, but not very marked impact on the IQ's of their children. Most outstanding was the difference between non-communicating and communicating hydrocephalus: nearly 50% of the non-communicating cases were mentally retarded, while this percentage was 22 for the communicating ones.

Adolescent↗