| Abstrakt: |
Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) belongs to the DNA-binding protein family that selectively binds to DNA methylated CpG-islands. MeCP2 acts like a transcriptional repressor, that contains a N-terminal methylated DNA-binding domain (MBD), and a C-terminal transcriptional repression domain (TRD). Mutations in MECP2 gene have been associated to Rett Syndrome - a neurological disorder linked to X-chromossome, and one of the most common causes of physical and intellectual dysfunction in females. The calculation of MeCP2 MDB had been solved, but the effects of the mutations on the protein's structure and, consequently, functions have not been analyzed. Databases, systems, tools, and, more recently, protein structure motifs databases available on Internet make it possible to predict ab initio protein structure quickly. This extended abstract looks at the the use of these tools to analyze the effects of MeCP2's mutations, which cause Rett syndrome, in the original protein structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
