A Report: New COMPASS Platform Points Directly to Protein's Likely Structure

Abstract

Searching for the precise, complexly folded three-dimensional structure of a protein can resemble hacking through a wilderness without a guide: a long, intensive process with uncertain direction. University of Illinois scientists developed another approach, named COMPASS that focuses specifically to a protein's likely structure utilizing a combination of advanced molecular spectroscopy techniques, prescient protein- folding algorithms and image recognition software. Chad Rienstra, a Chemistry Professor and their team showed this process. They have taken a process that would take months and brought it down to hours, said Joseph Courtney, an Illinois graduate student. They expect this to not only accelerate the rate at which they can study proteins, but also increase its repeatability and the reliability. Proteins carry out functions inside the cell, and those functions are determined by the proteins' exact structures - the way they overlap and turn into a many-sided three-dimensional shape.