Global and interface asymmetry measures.

<p>Parameters used in the calculation of global and interface asymmetry scores. Figures ‘a’ and ‘b’ denote examples demonstrating the global asymmetry scores calculated for symmetric and asymmetric dimers, respectively. a). The figure depicts the two distances between Cα atoms for the pair of residues Ile-105 and Phe-106 in the dimeric <i>variable domain of T cell receptor delta chain</i> (PDB code: 1tvd). Chains A and B are colored as orange and cyan cartoons, respectively. The distance between Cα atoms of Ile-105(A)<->Phe-106(B) is shown in red and the corresponding distance between Cα atoms of Ile-105(B)<->Phe-106(A) is shown in blue. b). The figure depicts the two distances between Cα atoms for the pair of residues Arg-91 and Glu-102 in the dimeric <i>cell division protein FtsZ</i> (PDB code: 1rlu). Chains A and B are colored as orange and cyan cartoons, respectively. The distance between Cα atoms of Arg-91(A)<->Glu-102(B) is shown in red and the corresponding distance between Cα atoms of Arg-91(B)<->Glu-102(A) is shown in blue. Figures ‘c’ and ‘d’ highlight the information used for the calculation of interface asymmetry scores 1 and 2, respectively, for the case of the dimeric <i>variable domain of T cell receptor delta chain</i> (PDB code: 1tvd). Chains A and B are colored as orange and cyan ribbons, respectively. Interacting residues are depicted as spheres. c). Interface asymmetry score 1 is calculated by considering the fraction of unique interacting residues in the two chains. The unique interacting residues of chain A and chain B are shown in blue and magenta, respectively. d). Interface asymmetry score 2 is calculated by considering the fraction of unique interactions for a common interacting residue. The common interacting residue Phe-44 is shown as spheres. The set of interacting partner residues which are common in both chains are shown as sticks. The unique interacting residue present in Chain B is depicted as purple spheres. Its non-interacting counterpart in chain A is depicted as pale yellow spheres, to provide a picture of the difference in distance. All the figures of structures provided in this study have been generated using PyMoL <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0036688#pone.0036688-Delano1" target="_blank">[77]</a>.