Mean-field minimization methods for biological macromolecules

Simulations of macromolecular structures involve the minimization of a potential-energy function that presents many local minima. Mean-field theory provides a tool that enables us to escape these minima, by enhancing sampling in conformational space. The number of applications of this technique has increased significantly over the past year, enabling problems with protein-homology modelling and inverted protein structure prediction to be solved.