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Abstract

Almost all biological processes are effectively mediated by protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Understanding PPIs requires 3D information about protein-protein complexes and interfaces. High-resolution experimental approaches still have comparatively low throughput and computational approaches still have robustness issues. Hybrid approaches may offer immediate solutions that outperform standalone approaches. Combining sparse data from cross-linking mass spectrometry and evolutionary coupling might be an effective solution for a large-scale interaction prediction and structural elucidation of PPIs, as the methods are comparatively fast and cost-effective. The information generated by these two approaches is thought to be complimentary. For instance, evolutionary couplings can provide short-range constraints between the key interacting residues at the interface while cross-linking mass spectrometry can provide long-range constraints about the topological arrangement of the interacting domains. This project aims to conduct a proof of concept study combining cross-linking mass spectrometry and evolutionary coupling towards the better de novo prediction, structure elucidation and modeling of protein-protein complexes.