Chemical Modification Search

Background

Chemical modifications to biomolecules, such as nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) or proteins, involve altering their structure by introducing chemical groups or functional changes at specific sites within the sequence. These modifications can significantly impact the properties or functions of these biomolecules. Some examples include the following:

• Methylation: methylation refers to the addition of a methyl group to the DNA sequence of a gene, which can result in the gene being turned off, preventing it from producing a protein.
• Glycosylation: glycosylation involves attaching carbohydrate molecules (e.g., sugars) to amino acid residues in proteins. This modification can affect various aspects of protein behavior, including folding, stability, solubility, and recognition by other molecules.

In biochemistry, chemical modifications involve altering the structure and function of biomolecules by adding or removing "modifying elements." These modifications, typically achieved through a series of chemical reactions, can be applied to various macromolecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. A wide range of modifications is possible, and this approach is utilized in the development of various drug types, such as antibodies, proteins, peptides, and oligonucleotides.

Chemical Modification Search

The Chemical Modification Search is an innovative tool that eliminates the need for manual searching and cleaning of patents containing chemical modification data. By accurately capturing modification information, it helps reduce the risk of infringement. This tool can be accessed from the sidebar in the Bio Platform by clicking on "Modification". Please note that this feature is exclusively available to Bio Professional users.

To conduct a search, you can start by entering a sequence length between 3 and 1000, followed by selecting the location of the modification and modification type:

You also have the option to enter a query sequence, up to a total of 200 sequences:

Once you are satisfied with your input, you can click on "search" to proceed to the results page. On the results screen, you will find the hit sites and modification overview in the middle of the page. Here, only the top three are displayed for each site. Any redundant ones are shown in grey.

There is also a new "Hit modification" field and filter, as well as a "Modification browser." Clicking on the "Modification browser" allows you to view the summary report:

If you switch to the "Alignment view" it will display the hit modifications and sources:

After clicking on a sequence of interest, you will be redirected to the Sequence Detail page. Here, you will find details about Hit modifications, as well as information about the sources from which the hit modification data was retrieved.