Abstract

High-Throughput Mapping of Functional Proteins and Pathways

Adam Abate, Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California-San Francisco

Despite advances in AI for predicting protein structures from sequences, predicting function remains challenging due to the dynamic nature of protein mechanics. High-throughput experimentation is a powerful method to study proteins, allowing the generation of empirically-based functional maps. However, this process requires analyzing hundreds of thousands of variants to thoroughly scan the mutational landscape for even a single protein. This talk will discuss methods for high-throughput characterization of functional proteins and pathways, including enzymes, membrane transporters, and antibodies. High-throughput sequence-function mapping will enable the generation of empirical datasets necessary for building accurate computational models of proteins and pathways and, ultimately, enabling the in silico design of proteins with new functions.