FastContact
Encyclopedia
FastContact is an algorithm for the rapid estimate of contact and binding free energies
for protein-protein complex structures
. It is based on a statistically determined desolvation
contact potential and Coulomb electrostatics with a distance-dependent dielectric constant
. The application also reports residue contact free energies that rapidly highlight the hotspots of the interaction.
The programme was written in Fortran 77 by Carlos J. Camacho and Chao Zhang at the Department of Computational Biology, University of Pittsburgh
, PA. A web server for running FastContact online or downloading the binary was set up by P. Christoph Champ in July 2005.
Thermodynamic free energy
The thermodynamic free energy is the amount of work that a thermodynamic system can perform. The concept is useful in the thermodynamics of chemical or thermal processes in engineering and science. The free energy is the internal energy of a system less the amount of energy that cannot be used to...
for protein-protein complex structures
Protein-protein interaction prediction
Protein–protein interaction prediction is a field combining bioinformatics and structural biology in an attempt to identify and catalog physical interactions between pairs or groups of proteins...
. It is based on a statistically determined desolvation
Solvation
Solvation, also sometimes called dissolution, is the process of attraction and association of molecules of a solvent with molecules or ions of a solute...
contact potential and Coulomb electrostatics with a distance-dependent dielectric constant
Dielectric constant
The relative permittivity of a material under given conditions reflects the extent to which it concentrates electrostatic lines of flux. In technical terms, it is the ratio of the amount of electrical energy stored in a material by an applied voltage, relative to that stored in a vacuum...
. The application also reports residue contact free energies that rapidly highlight the hotspots of the interaction.
The programme was written in Fortran 77 by Carlos J. Camacho and Chao Zhang at the Department of Computational Biology, University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, PA. A web server for running FastContact online or downloading the binary was set up by P. Christoph Champ in July 2005.
External links
- FastContact binaries — binaries are freely available for download (with documentation).
- FastContact Server — setup by P. Christoph Champ in July 2005.
- FastContact Wiki