Systematic representation of protein folding patterns

A tabular representation of protein folding patterns is described, which comprises information about the order along the chain of helices and strands of sheet, identifies the elements of secondary structure that interact, and indicates their relative orientation. These tableaux are intelligible to both people and computers, and support the application of algorithms for identification of proteins with similar folding patterns. Their inclusion in a database of protein structures would support investigations of structural relationships at the topological level.