Patent Document ID: 20010034580
Application ID: 09839821
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A functional site descriptor that defines a spatial configuration for a functional site of a protein, which functional site corresponds to a biological function other than a divalent metal ion binding site, for application to an inexact, three dimensional structural model of a protein to determine whether the protein possesses the biological function corresponding to the functional site defined by the functional site descriptor, the functional site descriptor comprising a set of geometric constraints for one or more atoms in each of two or more amino acid residues comprising a functional site of a protein other than a divalent metal ion binding site, wherein at least one of said two or more amino acid residues is identified as a particular amino acid residue or set of amino acid residues, wherein said one or more atoms is selected from the group consisting of amide nitrogens, &agr;-carbons, carbonyl carbons, and carbonyl oxygens within a polypeptide backbone, &bgr;-carbons of amino acid residues, and pseudoatoms, and wherein at least one of said one or more atoms is an amide nitrogen, an &agr;-carbon, a &bgr;-carbon, or a carbonyl oxygen within a polypeptide backbone.