Molstack: A platform for interactive presentations of electron density and cryo-EM maps and their interpretations.

Area of Science:

• Structural Biology
• Computational Biology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Molstack, introduced in 2018, is a cloud-based platform designed for sharing electron density maps and their interpretations.
• It enables interactive visualization and pairwise comparison of multiple datasets and models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present developments in the Molstack platform driven by user feedback.
• To highlight use cases where Molstack enhanced scientific publications.
• To discuss future directions for the platform.

Main Methods:

• The study details user-driven enhancements to the Molstack platform.
• It showcases diverse applications through case examples.
• The methodology involves analyzing user feedback and publication impacts.

Main Results:

• Researchers utilized Molstack for presenting experimental evidence (electron density maps, omit maps, anomalous difference density maps).
• Molstack facilitated the display of alternative interpretations, model superpositions, and collaborative projects.
• User feedback led to significant platform developments and expanded use cases.

Conclusions:

• Molstack has proven to be a versatile tool beyond its initial concept, supporting various aspects of structural biology research.
• User-driven development has enhanced its utility for data visualization, interpretation, and scientific communication.
• The platform shows promise for continued evolution in protein science tools.