Discrete Frechet Distance and Its Biological Applications

在本项目中，我们将基于蛋白质结构描述及其可视化的应用，研究离散Frechet距离的几个基本问题。其中包括通过考虑实际条件（例如连接相邻α-碳原子的链段的长度几乎是均匀的）来提高蛋白质结构比对的计算时间，以及同时简化一对链以实现逼真的可视化等。基于这些理论研究，我们还计划为这些应用构建一个原型软件系统，该系统在公共领域可用。蛋白质结构比对是了解蛋白质进化和预测蛋白质功能的一项重要的基础性技术，对于确定某些疾病的病因和新药的开发至关重要。本文提出了一种基于离散Frechet距离的蛋白质结构比对方法，以提高蛋白质结构比对的质量和速度。我们的建议将考虑有关这项技术的基本问题。由此产生的软件工具将被公众用于教育和研究。该项目将帮助支持和培训蒙大拿州立大学的几名研究生。

In this project, based on applications in protein structure alignmentand its visualization, we will investigate several fundamental problemsregarding the discrete Frechet distance. These include improving thecomputation time for protein structure alignment by taking into accountpractical conditions (e.g. the lengths of the segments connecting neighboringalpha-carbon atoms are almost uniform), and simultaneously simplifying a pairof chains for realistic visualization, etc. Based on these theoreticalinvestigations, we also plan to build a prototype software system, availablein the public domain, for these applications. Protein structure alignment is an important and fundamental technique used tounderstand the evolution of proteins and to predict their functionality.This understanding is crucial for the identification of the cause of certaindiseases and for the development of new drugs. Here we propose a new approachbased on the discrete Frechet distance to improve the quality and speed ofprotein structure alignment. Our proposal will consider fundamental questionswith regard to this technique. The resulting software tools will be accessedby the public for education and research. This project will help supportand train several graduate students at Montana State University.