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Deep learning guided design of dynamic proteins

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Jul 02, 2025 version files 1.85 GB

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Abstract

Deep learning (DL) has advanced the design of static protein structures, but the controlled conformational changes that are hallmarks of natural signaling proteins have remained inaccessible to de novo design. Here, we describe a general DL-guided approach for the de novo design of dynamic changes between intradomain geometries of proteins, similar to switch mechanisms prevalent in nature, with atomic-level precision. Our method involves three general stages: (1) identifying alternative structural states through computational conformational sampling, (2) using DL sequence-to-structure models to restrict the designable sequence space explored during multi-state design, and (3) understanding the molecular basis underlying dynamics through simulations and DL predictions. We solve four structures that validate the designed conformations, demonstrate modulation of the conformational landscape by orthosteric ligands and allosteric mutations, and show that physics-based simulations are in agreement with DL predictions and experimental data. Our approach demonstrates that new modes of motion can now be realized through de novo design and provides a framework for constructing biology-inspired, tunable, and controllable protein signaling behavior de novo. This dataset includes the necessary python scripts, plasmid backbones, computational structural models, experimental data, and simulation trajectories to reproduce our results.