DichroMatch

DichroMatch identifies proteins with similar circular dichroism (CD) spectra to detect structurally and functionally related proteins and homologues through spectral comparison.

Key Features:

• Spectral Nearest Neighbours: Implements six distinct methods to determine spectral nearest neighbours for a query CD spectrum.
• Spectrum Similarity Metrics: Computes quantitative metrics that describe the degree of match between a query spectrum and reference spectra.
• Structural Information Integration: Links closest spectral matches to available crystal structures and reports secondary structure and fold classification information.
• Flexible Data Sets: Compares queries against the Protein Circular Dichroism Data Bank (PCDDB) by default and supports comparison against custom or specialized datasets for analyses such as wild-type versus mutant comparisons, homologue screening, or series of spectra under varying conditions.

Scientific Applications:

• Protein Homologue Identification: Identifies proteins with similar CD spectra to infer potential homology and assist annotation of unknown proteins.
• Structural Analysis: Supports hypothesis generation about secondary structure content and folding patterns of uncharacterized proteins by comparing spectra to proteins with known structures.
• Functional Studies: Enables comparison of wild-type and mutant spectra or homologues from different species to investigate structure–function relationships.

Methodology:

A query CD spectrum is compared against the PCDDB or provided datasets; six analytical methods are applied to identify spectral nearest neighbours, compute similarity metrics, and integrate available crystal-structure-derived secondary-structure and fold-classification data.