Question

The intermolecular approach is normally applied to relatively _____ structures.

(a) distinctive

(b) dissimilar

(c) similar

(d) different

The question was posed to me at a job interview.

This interesting question is from Protein Structure Comparison in section Structural Bioinformatics of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Right answer is (c) similar

Easy explanation: The algorithmic approaches to comparing protein geometric properties can be divided into three categories: the first superposes protein structures by minimizing intermolecular distances; the second relies on measuring intramolecular distances of a structure; and the third includes algorithms that combine both intermolecular and intramolecular approaches.