New method for protein secondary structure assignment based on a simple topological descriptor.

A simple, five-element descriptor, derived from the Delaunay tessellation of a protein structure in a single point per residue representation, can be assigned to each residue in the protein. The descriptor characterizes main-chain topology and connectivity in the neighborhood of the residue and does not explicitly depend on putative hydrogen bonds or any geometric parameter, including bond length, angles, and areas. Rules based on this descriptor can be used for accurate, robust, and computationally efficient secondary structure assignment that correlates well with the existing methods.