In silico characterization of protein chimeras: relating sequence and function within the same fold.

The exploration of novel proteins via recombination of fragments derived from structurally homologous proteins has enormous potential for medicine and biotechnology. This modular exchange of sequence material puts novel activities, substrate specificities, and stability within reach of a semi-random search. This article takes stock of the growing resource of experimentally characterized chimeric proteins within a homologous protein family to build sequence-function models that can effectively guide the construction of new libraries.

Allelic variants of drug metabolizing enzymes as risk factors in psoriasis.

The onset or exacerbation of psoriasis, a T-cell-dependent skin disease with autoimmune features, can be triggered by drugs such as antimalarials and beta-blockers. Xenobiotics may also play a role in idiopathic psoriasis. It has been hypothesized that different metabolic efficiencies caused by variant alleles of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes could lead to the accumulation of xenobiotics or their reactive metabolites in target organs.