On the optimal contact potential of proteins

We analytically derive the lower bound of the total conformational energy of a protein structure by assuming that the total conformational energy is well approximated by the sum of sequence-dependent pairwise contact energies. The condition for the native structure achieving the lower bound leads to the contact energy matrix that is a scalar multiple of the native contact matrix, i.e., the so-called G o ¯ potential. We also derive spectral relations between contact matrix and energy matrix, and approximations related to one-dimensional protein structures. Implications for protein structure prediction are discussed.