2026Savas Distogram
Citation
Savaş, B., Barlas, A.B. and Karaca, E. 2026. Exploring the potential of AlphaFold distograms for predicting binding-induced hinge motions. FEBS letters. 600, 10 (2026), 1558–1570.
Abstract
AlphaFold models provide static structural predictions, limiting their use in interpreting flexible regions in low-resolution cryo-EM maps. Here, we assess whether AlphaFold-generated distograms can instead reveal conformational flexibility, focusing on binding-induced hinge motions. For this, we examined the key metabolic AK2/AIFM1 complex, where molecular dynamics and cryo-EM confirm a hinge motion in AK2 upon binding. Notably, this motion is captured in the AlphaFold2/3 distograms of apo AK2, even though it is absent in the predicted structures. By extending our analysis to other systems, we demonstrate that distograms may offer a valuable, model-independent method for interpreting ambiguous hinge regions in cryo-EM maps.
Keywords
Links
https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/1873-3468.70297