Visualizing and analyzing 3D biomolecular structures using Mol* at RCSB.org: Influenza A H5N1 virus proteome case...

Area of Science:

• Structural Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Computational Chemistry

Background:

• Visualizing three-dimensional (3D) biomolecular structures is crucial for understanding their function.
• Existing tools may have limitations in handling diverse biostructures and integrated data.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce Mol* as an open-source, web-based 3D visualization software suite.
• Demonstrate its capabilities in visualizing and analyzing biomolecular structures and associated data.

Main Methods:

• Collaborative development of Mol* by RCSB PDB and PDBe.
• Implementation of Mol* within the RCSB.org web portal for seamless visualization.
• Integration of atomic coordinates, experimental data, and bioinformatics annotations.

Main Results:

• Mol* facilitates single-mouse-click visualization of various biomolecules (proteins, nucleic acids, etc.) with ligands and ions.
• It enables seamless display, interrogation, superimposition, and comparison of 3D structures from diverse sources.
• Case study with influenza A H5N1 virus demonstrates integration of sequence/structure annotations and analysis of structure groups.

Conclusions:

• Mol* enhances research, training, and education by providing accessible 3D visualization of biostructures.
• It supports the examination of complex biomolecular assemblies and integrates diverse data resources.
• Standalone Mol* is available for visualizing any atomic-level or multi-scale biostructure.