New path planning method for computation of constrained dynamic channels in proteins

Abstract

Collision-free paths in the geometric model of a protein molecule reveal various dependencies between the structure of the molecule and its function. The paths which connect a biochemically important part of the protein molecule with the surface of the molecule can serve as egression or access paths for small molecules which react in the active site. The geometric method introduced in this paper is designed to compute such paths in the dynamic models of protein molecules. The paths have to satisfy additional constraints such as valid flow of time which allows us to distinguish between access and egression paths, minimum width and others. Possibly, the method may be used not only for protein molecules but also for similar environments with high density of spherical obstacles. The method was tested on real protein data and the results indicate that if there is a path present, it is detected by our method.