Protein target profile

VK055_0067

aspartate--tRNA ligase

Genome: KpATCC43816 Gene: aspS AIK78695.1 3D evidence: AlphaFold DB model + ColabFold model Metabolism 3 reactions UniProt A0A0H3H058
Length 578
Pocket druggability 0.348
Metabolic reactions 3
Chokepoint Yes
Direct ligand evidence 0 55 total records
Functional annotation 1 EC 9 GO
Target summary

Promising target candidate with multiple supporting evidence streams.

Automated synthesis of the evidence currently loaded. Review the underlying records before prioritizing this protein.

Terms and data sources used on this page

PDB: experimentally determined structures from the Protein Data Bank. These are the strongest structural evidence, but may cover only part of the protein.

AlphaFold DB model: a precomputed predicted structure downloaded from AlphaFold Database/UniProt, not an experiment performed here.

ColabFold model: a predicted structure generated for this workspace; interpret it with coverage and confidence.

pLDDT: confidence score for predicted structures. High values support local geometry; low values mean the region should not drive pocket interpretation.

FPocket / P2Rank: software tools that predict possible ligand-binding pockets on a 3D structure. They are useful screening signals, not experimental validation.

Druggability: a pocket-based estimate of whether a small molecule could bind productively. It does not mean a drug already exists.

PDB ligand: a compound observed in an experimental structure. Direct same-protein records are stronger than homolog-transferred records.

ChEMBL: a public database of measured compound bioactivity. Direct entries are stronger than entries transferred from similar proteins.

ZINC: a purchasable-compound database. Here it marks proposed candidates from chemical similarity, not measured binders.

LigQ / LigQ_2: an internal Target pipeline step that gathers PDB, ChEMBL, and ZINC ligand evidence for each protein.

Off-target: sequence similarity to proteins we prefer not to hit, such as human proteins or beneficial gut microbiome proteins.

DEG: Database of Essential Genes. A match suggests the protein resembles genes known to be essential in other organisms.

Roary / CoreCruncher: pan-genome tools used to decide whether a gene is core across analyzed strains or accessory/strain-specific.

EC / GO: functional annotations: EC describes enzyme reactions; GO describes biological process, molecular function, or cellular component.

KEGG pathway: a curated metabolic route label used here to group reactions imported from the metabolic model.

Chokepoint: a metabolic reaction that is the only producer or consumer of a metabolite in the imported model.

Prioritization evidence

Selectivity, essentiality, structural confidence, conservation, and predicted binding-site evidence.

Off-target risk

Human off-target
Hit
Human identity (%)
43.465 Lower values reduce human off-target concern.
Human E-value
1.56e-80
Gut microbiome similarity
21.8% of screened genomes Lower prevalence suggests narrower overlap with the screened gut microbiome.

Essentiality

Essential (DEG)
Y
DEG identity (%)
94.2 Higher values support similarity to known essential genes.
DEG E-value
0.0 Smaller values mean stronger essential-gene similarity.

Localization

Localization
Cytoplasmic

Structure confidence

ColabFold pLDDT
95.4 0-100 confidence; >70 supports local structural interpretation.

Binding-site evidence

AlphaFold DB / UniProt model

The selected pocket score is the FPocket value used for ranking after applying the curated structure priority. It estimates small-molecule pocket quality; it is not experimental binding evidence. The 3D viewer may show a different loaded structure, so visible pockets can differ.

FPocket 0.348
Structure A0A0H3H058
Pocket Pocket 1
P2Rank 0.903
Structure A0A0H3H058
Pocket Pocket 1
ColabFold model
FPocket 0.339 · Pocket 1
P2Rank 0.912 · Pocket 1
Core conservation Conserved core gene
Roary core
CoreCruncher core
Gut microbiome 1033 / 4744 genomes with a hit
Prevalence 21.8%

Cross-references

External database identifiers for this protein, its structures, ligands, and metabolic reactions.

Metabolic context

Reactions catalyzed, pathway membership, and centrality in the genome-scale metabolic network.

Explore metabolic network

Attractive metabolic target: catalyzes a producing chokepoint reaction in Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, no isoenzyme backup detected.

Relative network centrality 0.0% more central than 0.0% of genes in this genome
Chokepoint Chokepoint gene
Catalyzed reactions

3 reactions mapped to this gene in the metabolic model. Open the full network to see each one, with substrates/products and the reaction-reaction map.

Imported from KpATCC43816.sbml · 2026-07-09

Sequence

Primary amino-acid sequence viewer.

MTLCGWVNRRRDLGSLIFIDMRDREGIVQVFFDPDRADALKLASELRNEFCIQVTGTVRAREEKNINADMATGAIEVLASDLTIINRSESLPLDSNHVNTEEARLKYRYLDLRRPEMAQRLKTRAKITSFVRRFMDDHGFLDIETPMLTKATPEGARDYLVPSRVHKGKFYALPQSPQLFKQLLMMSGFDRYYQIVKCFRDEDLRADRQPEFTQIDVETSFMTAPQVREIMEAMVRQLWLEVKGVDLGEFPIMTFAEAERRYGSDKPDLRNPMELVDVADLLKSVEFAVFAGPANDPKGRVAALRVPGGASLTRKLIDEYGNFVKIYGAKGLAYIKVTERAKGMDGINSPVAKFLTAEIVEAILDRTGAQDGDMIFFGADNKKVVADALGALRLKLGKDLSLTDESKWAPLWVIDFPMFEDDGEGGLTAMHHPFTSPKDMTADELKAAPEEAVANAYDMVINGYEVGGGSVRIHRGEMQQTVFGILGINEQEQREKFGFLLDALKYGTPPHAGLAFGLDRLTMLLTGTDNIRDVIAFPKTTAAACLMTEAPSFANPAALGELGIQVVEKEAKASLENK

Functional annotations

Enzyme classification and Gene Ontology terms linked to this protein.

1 EC 9 GO

Enzyme Commission (EC)

1

Gene Ontology (GO)

9
  • GO:0005524 Binding to ATP, adenosine 5'-triphosphate, a universally important coenzyme and enzyme regulator.
  • GO:0003676 Binding to a nucleic acid.
  • GO:0016874 Catalysis of the joining of two molecules, or two groups within a single molecule, using the energy from the hydrolysis of ATP, a similar triphosphate, or a pH gradient.
  • GO:0004812 Catalysis of the formation of aminoacyl-tRNA from ATP, amino acid, and tRNA with the release of diphosphate and AMP.
  • GO:0000166 Binding to a nucleotide, any compound consisting of a nucleoside that is esterified with (ortho)phosphate or an oligophosphate at any hydroxyl group on the ribose or deoxyribose.
  • GO:0006418 The synthesis of aminoacyl tRNA by the formation of an ester bond between the 3'-hydroxyl group of the most 3' adenosine of the tRNA and the alpha carboxylic acid group of an amino acid, to be used in ribosome-mediated polypeptide synthesis.
  • GO:0005737 The contents of a cell excluding the plasma membrane and nucleus, but including other subcellular structures.
  • GO:0004815 Catalysis of the reaction: ATP + L-aspartate + tRNA(Asp) = AMP + diphosphate + L-aspartyl-tRNA(Asp).
  • GO:0006422 The process of coupling aspartate to aspartyl-tRNA, catalyzed by aspartyl-tRNA synthetase. The aspartyl-tRNA synthetase is a class-II synthetase. The activated amino acid is transferred to the 3'-OH group of an aspartic acid accetping tRNA.

Sequence domains and features

Domain and signature matches imported from InterPro and related databases.

39 records
Show feature table
Start End DB Term Name
190 203 PRINTS PR01042 Aspartyl-tRNA synthetase signature
190 203 InterPro IPR002312 Aspartyl/Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase, class IIb
501 515 PRINTS PR01042 Aspartyl-tRNA synthetase signature
501 515 InterPro IPR002312 Aspartyl/Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase, class IIb
173 185 PRINTS PR01042 Aspartyl-tRNA synthetase signature
173 185 InterPro IPR002312 Aspartyl/Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase, class IIb
457 473 PRINTS PR01042 Aspartyl-tRNA synthetase signature
457 473 InterPro IPR002312 Aspartyl/Asparaginyl-tRNA synthetase, class IIb
121 541 CDD cd00777 AspRS_core
121 541 InterPro IPR047090 Aspartate-tRNA ligase, type 1, core domain
254 403 FunFam G3DSA:3.30.1360.30:FF:000001 Aspartate--tRNA ligase
2 85 Pfam PF01336 OB-fold nucleic acid binding domain
2 85 InterPro IPR004365 OB-fold nucleic acid binding domain, AA-tRNA synthetase-type
271 402 SUPERFAMILY SSF55261 GAD domain-like
271 402 InterPro IPR004115 GAD-like domain superfamily
1 89 FunFam G3DSA:2.40.50.140:FF:000080 Aspartate--tRNA ligase
2 88 SUPERFAMILY SSF50249 Nucleic acid-binding proteins
2 88 InterPro IPR012340 Nucleic acid-binding, OB-fold
101 562 Gene3D G3DSA:3.30.930.10 Bira Bifunctional Protein; Domain 2
101 562 InterPro IPR045864 Class II Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/Biotinyl protein ligase (BPL) and lipoyl protein ligase (LPL)
290 389 Pfam PF02938 GAD domain
290 389 InterPro IPR029351 GAD domain
1 567 Hamap MF_00044 Aspartate--tRNA(Asp/Asn) ligase [aspS].
1 567 InterPro IPR004524 Aspartate-tRNA ligase, type 1
121 538 ProSiteProfiles PS50862 Aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases class-II family profile.
121 538 InterPro IPR006195 Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, class II
2 543 PANTHER PTHR22594 ASPARTYL/LYSYL-TRNA SYNTHETASE
91 567 SUPERFAMILY SSF55681 Class II aaRS and biotin synthetases
91 567 InterPro IPR045864 Class II Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/Biotinyl protein ligase (BPL) and lipoyl protein ligase (LPL)
254 403 Gene3D G3DSA:3.30.1360.30 -
254 403 InterPro IPR004115 GAD-like domain superfamily
1 89 Gene3D G3DSA:2.40.50.140 -
1 89 InterPro IPR012340 Nucleic acid-binding, OB-fold
101 541 Pfam PF00152 tRNA synthetases class II (D, K and N)
101 541 InterPro IPR004364 Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, class II (D/K/N)
2 568 NCBIfam TIGR00459 aspartate--tRNA ligase
2 568 InterPro IPR004524 Aspartate-tRNA ligase, type 1
2 117 CDD cd04317 EcAspRS_like_N
2 117 InterPro IPR047089 Aspartate-tRNA ligase, type 1, anticodon recognition domain

3D structure

Selected loaded structure. Experimental PDB entries may cover only a portion of the sequence; AlphaFold DB and ColabFold models typically cover the full protein but remain computational predictions.

Download VMD script Full viewer

Loading 3D structure...

Drag to rotate — click the view, then scroll to zoom.

Pocket score High Medium Low
How colors and pocket overlays are used
Uniform protein color marks the displayed model as a single molecular object.
Experimental PDB structures may be colored by chain to distinguish subunits or copies present in the file.
Pocket colors and alpha spheres are evidence overlays for predicted binding cavities; they are not alternative protein chains.
'Alpha spheres' is FPocket's own cavity-shape geometry, imported when available and aligned with the loaded structure.
'Pocket atoms'/'Predicted site atoms' show the pocket's residue atoms instead: P2Rank reports residues rather than alpha spheres, and FPocket falls back to this when alpha-sphere geometry is unavailable or doesn't align.
'No pocket geometry' means neither alpha spheres nor residue-position data could be found for that pocket; the layer just highlights the same residues as 'Nearby residues'.
Pocket details Inspect a specific pocket, or open the full viewer

Binding pockets · FPocket

Druggability: high ≥ 0.7 · medium 0.4–0.69 · low < 0.4

Site 1 FPocket #1
0.348
Likely same site as P2Rank 1 5.6 Å 14 shared residues 82% of smaller site
Show in viewer
Surrounding area

Binding pockets · P2Rank

Probability: high ≥ 0.5 · medium 0.2–0.49 · low < 0.2

Site 1 P2Rank #1
0.903
Likely same site as FPocket 1 5.6 Å 14 shared residues 82% of smaller site
Show in viewer
Surrounding area
Site 2 P2Rank #2
0.17
Show in viewer
Surrounding area
Site 3 P2Rank #3
0.136
Show in viewer
Surrounding area
Site 4 P2Rank #4
0.057
Show in viewer
Surrounding area
Site 5 P2Rank #5
0.033
Show in viewer
Surrounding area
Residue sets
UniProt: Binding site:171-171
UniProt: Binding site:217-217
UniProt: Binding site:217-219
UniProt: Binding site:226-226
UniProt: Binding site:448-448
UniProt: Binding site:482-482
UniProt: Binding site:489-489
UniProt: Binding site:534-537
All structural evidence 0 experimental · 2 predicted

Structural evidence

0 + 2

Experimental PDB entries plus predicted AlphaFold DB or ColabFold models. Click Switch to display a different loaded structure in the viewer.

Entry Method Resolution Chain Coverage Links Status
AlphaFold DB AF_A0A0H3H058
AlphaFold DB full sequence Viewing
ColabFold VK055_0067
ColabFold full sequence Loaded

Ligand evidence

Ligands grouped by evidence source. PDB ligands keep the source crystal visible, and loaded crystals can be opened directly in the structure viewer.

55 records
Chemistry signal

Structural and bioactivity evidence are both available for this target.

Direct evidence 0 same-protein records
Transferred evidence 5 records from similar proteins
Structural ligands 3 0 loaded crystals
Measured bioactivity 2 direct and transferred ChEMBL records
Proposed compounds 50 similarity-based ZINC candidates
Best available ligand signal
3SY PDB via homolog 136.1 Da · LogP -2.06 · TPSA 80.9 Open detail RCSB PDB
AMO PDB via homolog Detail RCSB PDB
BUA PDB via homolog Detail RCSB PDB
DSZ ChEMBL via homolog · pchembl 10.28 (~0.1 nM) Detail ChEMBL
CHEMBL4203761 ChEMBL via homolog · pchembl 7.60 (~25.1 nM) Detail ChEMBL

Structural evidence inferred from similar proteins. The source crystal indicates where the ligand was observed; the UniProt column identifies the homologous protein carrying that ligand.

Show only:
Ligand Source crystal UniProt (homolog) MW · LogP · TPSA Lipinski PAINS SMILES
3SY RCSB PDB A0QWN3 136.1 Da LogP -2.06 TPSA 80.9 ✓ Ro5 ✓ Clean C(C(CO)(CO)CO)O
AMO RCSB PDB P21889 462.3 Da LogP -2.51 TPSA 255.5 2 viol. ✓ Clean c1nc(c2c(n1)n(cn2)[C@H]3[C@@H]([C@@H]([C@H](O3)…
BUA RCSB PDB P56459 88.1 Da LogP 0.87 TPSA 37.3 ✓ Ro5 ✓ Clean CCCC(=O)O

PDB and ChEMBL records on this protein are shown in full. ChEMBL records from similar proteins are capped at the top 100 per protein (by pchembl) and ZINC at the top 50 (Tanimoto ≥ 0.5). ADME columns are descriptor-based screening flags, not experimental toxicity results.