Viro3D is the most comprehensive database for protein structure prediction of human and animal viruses. Credit: Molecular Systems Biology
Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, September 29(reporter Liu Xia) with the help of artificial intelligence technology, British University of Glasgow scientists have constructed the most comprehensive human and animal virus protein structure prediction database — Viro3D. The findings have been published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Systems Biology.
Although advances in AI technology have led to the creation of universal protein structure databases such as”Alpha Fold”, the prediction of viral protein structure has lagged behind and only a small amount of data has been collected. For now, scientists still rely on time-consuming and laborious methods to decipher the structure of the virus’s key proteins, severely limiting their ability to quickly develop vaccines and drugs.
To accelerate the process, the team built a new database of thousands of human and animal viral proteins. Viro3D contains high-quality structural models of 85,000 proteins from more than 4,000 human and animal viruses. It is the largest complete structural database of human and animal viruses, 30-FOLD expansion of existing relevant domain knowledge.
The team expects Viro3D to usher in a new era of viral research, accelerating the development of drugs and vaccines against existing pandemic viruses such as hepatitis, AIDS and covid-19, as well as Emerging Infectious Diseases viruses. The Smart Database, which the team says will be freely available, will give scientists new insights into the origin and evolution of viruses and speed up the development of drugs and vaccines.