Segmentation and interpretation of 3D protein images.

ABSTRACT

The segmentation and interpretation of three-dimensional images of proteins is considered. A topological approach is used to represent a protein structure as a spanning tree of critical points, where each critical point corresponds to a residue or the connectivity between residues. The critical points are subsequently analyzed to recognize secondary structure motifs within the protein. Results of applying the approach to ideal and experimental images of proteins at medium resolution are presented.