Question

Which of the following is incorrect about intermolecular approach?

(a) This procedure starts with identifying equivalent residues or atoms

(b) After residue–residue correspondence is established, one of the structures is moved laterally and vertically toward the other structure to allow the two structures to be in the same location

(c) The structures are rotated relative to each other around the three-dimensional axes

(d) The rotation doesn’t depend on the intermolecular distance

The question was posed to me during an interview.

The above asked question is from Protein Structure Comparison topic in division Structural Bioinformatics of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Correct option is (d) The rotation doesn’t depend on the intermolecular distance

Easy explanation: The rotation continues until the shortest intermolecular distance is reached. At this point, an optimal superimposition of the two structures is reached. After superimposition, equivalent residue pairs can be identified, which helps to quantitate the fitting between the two structures.