Structure-Function Relationship of Proteins Based on the Elastic Network Model

Protein structure-function relationship is one of the hot problems in the research field of structural biology with theoretical and practical significances. Elastic network model (ENM) is an effective method to investigate the intrinsic dynamical properties encoded in protein structure and then explore the biological functions of proteins, which has been widely used in the studies of protein structure-function relationship. In this paper, the basic theory of ENM as well as its applications in the studies of protein structure-function relationship are introduced, including the analysis of protein functional motions and the identification of key sites in proteins.