Optimal Design of a Molecular Recognizer: Molecular Recognition as a Bayesian Signal Detection Problem

Numerous biological functions--such as enzymatic catalysis, the immune response system, and the DNA-protein regulatory network--rely on the ability of molecules to specifically recognize target molecules within a large pool of similar competitors in a noisy biochemical environment. Using the basic framework of signal detection theory, we treat the molecular recognition process as a signal detection problem and examine its overall performance. Thus, we evaluate the optimal properties of a molecular recognizer in the presence of competition and noise. Our analysis reveals that the optimal design undergoes a "phase transition" as the structural properties of the molecules and interaction energies between them vary. In one phase, the recognizer should be complementary in structure to its target (like a lock and a key), while in the other, conformational changes upon binding, which often accompany molecular recognition, enhance recognition quality. Using this framework, the abunda...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: CORR
• Authors: Yonatan Savir, Tsvi Tlusty
• Keywords: Conformational Changes, CORR 2010, Education, Molecular Recognition, Signal Detection