Protein Structure Comparison and Analyses Post-AlphaFold: Challenges and Innovations

This research topic focuses on the open questions and new opportunities in the field of protein structure alignment in the era following the advent of AlphaFold's high-quality predictions. The article collection addresses the technical challenges and debates surrounding the integration of predicted structural data into existing analysis frameworks, and more generally, comparative analysis of protein structure and function. By evaluating the reliability and limitations of current techniques, submissions should aim to identify gaps and propose solutions to enhance the accuracy of macromolecular interaction studies, in line with the journal's mission to advance understanding in structural biology.

Potential themes include, but are not limited to:

- Amino acid sequence alignment
- Comparison of protein structures; Evolutionary relationships among proteins
- Design and engineering of proteins
- Virtual screening and drug design; Antibody design; Vaccine design
- Prediction of function
- Predicted structure quality vs experimental structure quality
- Limitations to alphafold
- Implications of alphafold for protein databases