Kinetic Computational Alanine Scanning: Application to p53 Oligomerization

We have developed a novel computational alanine scanning approach that involves analysis of ensemble unfolding kinetics at high temperature to identify residues that are critical for the stability of a given protein. This approach has been applied to dimerization of the oligomerization domain (residues 326–355) of tumor suppressor p53. As validated by experimental results, our approach has reasonable success in identifying deleterious mutations, including mutations that have been linked to cancer. We discuss a method for determining the effect of mutations on the location of the dimerization transition state.