DeePNAP: A deep learning method to predict protein-nucleic acids binding affinity from sequence

Predicting the protein-nucleic acid (PNA) binding affinity solely from their sequences is of paramount importance for the experimental design and analysis of PNA interactions (PNAIs). A large number of currently developed models for binding affinity prediction are limited to specific PNAIs, while also relying on both sequence and structural information of the PNA complexes for both train/test and also as inputs. As PNA complex structures available are scarce, this significantly limits the diversity and generalizability due to a small training dataset. Additionally, a majority of the tools predict a single parameter such as binding affinity or free energy changes upon mutations, rendering a model less versatile for usage. Hence, we propose DeePNAP, a machine learning-based model trained on a vast and heterogeneous dataset with 14,401 entries (from both eukaryotes and prokaryotes) of ProNAB database, consisting of wild-type and mutant PNA complex binding parameters. Our model precisely predicts the binding affinity and free energy changes due to the mutation(s) of PNAIs exclusively from the sequences. While other similar tools extract features from both sequence and structure information, DeePNAP employs sequence-based features to yield high correlation coefficients between the predicted and experimental values with low root mean squared errors for PNA complexes in predicting the KD and {Delta}{Delta}G implying the generalizability of DeePNAP. Additionally, we have also developed a web interface hosting DeePNAP that can serve as a powerful tool to rapidly predict binding affinities for a myriad of PNAIs with high precision toward developing a deeper understanding of their implications in various biological systems. Web interface: http://14.139.174.41:8080/