ProNet DB: a proteome-wise database for protein surface property representations and RNA-binding profiles

Abstract

The rapid growth in the number of experimental and predicted protein structures and more complicated protein structures poses a significant challenge for computational biology in leveraging structural information and accurate representation of protein surface properties. Recently, AlphaFold2 released the comprehensive proteomes of various species, and protein surface property representation plays a crucial role in protein-molecule interaction predictions, including those involving proteins, nucleic acids and compounds. Here, we proposed the first extensive database, namely ProNet DB, that integrates multiple protein surface representations and RNA-binding landscape for 326 175 protein structures. This collection encompasses the 16 model organism proteomes from the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database and experimentally validated structures from the Protein Data Bank. For each protein, ProNet DB provides access to the original protein structures along with the detailed surface property representations encompassing hydrophobicity, charge distribution and hydrogen bonding potential as well as interactive fea-tures such as the interacting face and RNA-binding sites and preferences. To facilitate an intuitive interpretation of these properties and the RNA-binding landscape, ProNet DB incorporates visualization tools like Mol*and an Online 3D Viewer, allowing for the direct observation and analysis of these representations on protein surfaces. The availability of pre-computed features enables instantaneous access for users, signif-icantly advancing computational biology research in areas such as molecular mechanism elucidation, geometry-based drug discovery and the development of novel therapeutic approaches.