Counting strands in outer membrane beta-barrels

Beta-barrel structures are critical components of bacterial outer membranes, where they facilitate transport, cell signaling, antibiotic resistance, and structural integrity. A key feature of beta-barrels is their strand count, which influences pore diameter, binding site locations, and functional properties. However, because of breaks in strands and the presence of strands in periplasmic domains and plug domains, manual counting is inefficient and current algorithms do not accurately determine barrel strand count. To address this, we refined our previous beta-barrel structural assessment tool, PolarBearal, to improve strand number identification in large-scale datasets. To enhance the accuracy of barrel strand number labeling, our updated algorithm integrates three structural criteria, namely inter-residue vector angles, hydrogen-bonding distances, and strand connectivity. Using this algorithm, we labeled strand numbers for 571,760 predicted outer membrane beta-barrel structures obtained from the AlphaFold2 database. Our algorithm has 97% accuracy in strand number assignments, and the resulting dataset facilitates assessment of the homogeneity of strand counts for different types of outer membrane proteins. The strand labeling also provides insights on beta-barrel strand distribution and evolutionary patterns, supporting further research in protein structure prediction and design. SignificanceThis work contributes an accurate, automated method for counting beta-barrel strands in bacterial outer membrane proteins. Methodological ImpactThe algorithm achieves 97% accuracy in strand counting, solving a technical problem that has hindered large-scale structural analysis. Previous manual methods were inefficient, and existing algorithms failed to handle the structural complexities of real beta-barrel proteins, including strand breaks and additional domains. Scale of ContributionBy annotating over 571,000 predicted structures from the AlphaFold2 database, this work represents the largest systematic characterization of beta-barrel strand distributions to date. This labeled dataset provides a resource for the structural biology community. Broader ApplicationsThis tool enables researchers understand structure-function relationships in outer membrane proteins, supporting advances in protein design, drug development targeting bacterial membranes.