MolviZ "Top 5"
The "Top 5" 3D Molecular Visualization Technologies
    for the rest of us...*
* ...who do not solve protein structures.

I. Tutorials  •  II. Tutorial-Authoring Systems  •  III. Explore Any Molecule  •  IV. See Protein Evolution  •  V. Animate Molecules in Powerpoint
top5.molviz.org
collected by Eric Martz for
MolviZ.Org


Students
  • Tutorials show you how the 3D structures of DNA, hemoglobin, and many other macromolecules support their functions.


  • Find and explore the 3D structure of any macromolecule easily.


  • Identify the parts of any 3D protein molecule that mutate most slowly, because they must be conserved in order to perform crucial functions.


  • Easily make 3D macromolecules rotate in your Powerpoint® slides.
Educators
  • Want to eliminate Chime from your classes? The solution is here! See below ...
  • Project the following resources in lectures, offer them to your students, or assign them.
  • Some resources are targeted specifically to high school level; most are suitable for college and graduate levels.
  • Ready-made Tutorials on 3D structures of DNA, hemoglobin, lipid bilayers, water, and many other macromolecules.
  • Some tutorials include challenge questions (answers on request).

  • Customize interactive molecular views easily to show in class, and for your students to rotate, zoom, and admire.

  • Find and explore the 3D structure of any macromolecule easily.
  • Identify the parts of any 3D protein molecule that mutate most slowly (because they must be conserved [see Gallery] in order to perform its functions) or most rapidly (to support function, e.g. escape of influenza hemagglutinin from immunity.
  • Easily make 3D macromolecules rotate in your Powerpoint® slides, and your students can do the same.
Researchers
  • Find and explore the key structural features of any macromolecule, easily.
  • Locate the positions of crucial residues.
  • See noncovalent bonds between any moiety and the remainder of the structure.

  • Annotate interactive macromolecular structures, without learning scripting languages, for journal supplementary materials or your lab group's website at Proteopedia.Org, a structural biology wiki with scene-authoring tools.

  • Identify functional regions by coloring amino acids with their levels of evolutionary conservation -- in minutes, totally automatically if you wish. Locate conserved residues, e.g. for functional mutagenesis studies.
  • Make publication-quality molecular figures with ease, highlighting specific residues or regions, and customizing rendering and colors.
  • Easily make 3D macromolecules rotate/animate in your Powerpoint® slides.
Everyone
  • Use state-of-the-art interactive 3D molecular visualization tools that you can expect to have available for years to come.
  • These are the easiest to use tools available.
  • All technologies on this page are free!
  • No installation is needed. Nothing to download. They just work immediately!
    • MS Windows systems may need to install/upgrade java.
    • Regular Apple software updates are recommended for Mac users.
  • Work on all popular computers: MS Windows, Mac OSX, linux.
  • Work in all popular web browsers, including
    • Internet Explorer 6/7 on Windows.
    • Firefox on Windows or linux.
    • Safari on Mac OS X.
The Jmol web browser applet is employed by most of the sites that best meet the above goals.
MDL Chime (being phased out) is not involved in any technologies on this page.

I. Tutorials with interactive, mouse-rotatable molecular views are increasingly available in Jmol. Look for Jmol-based tutorials on specific molecules at the following sites:
II. Jmol Tutorial-Authoring Systems

Create your own tutorials easily at Proteopedia.Org, a wiki with Scene Authoring Tools. You don't need to learn any script, HTML, or other languages. Your descriptions and molecular scenes will be online immediately!

Now available: Jmol Tutorial-Authoring Template (JTAT). Download a template for building tutorials that will display in a web browser. Supports multiple chapters and views comparing 2, 3, or 4 molecules side by side (with synchronization of mouse-directed rotations or zooms). Your tutorial will include a slider for zooming (or slabbing), spin toggle and centering buttons, details that display only when requested, and "How To" put views in Powerpoint slides, etc. Considerably more challenging to use than Proteopedia, but you have more control and the product tutorial is more user friendly. The tutorial must be uploaded to a server to provide online access, or the tutorial can be shown offline. See the JTAT Demonstration Tutorial and tutorials on several molecules.

See Comparisons of these and other Jmol tutorial-authoring systems.
III. Explore Any Molecule
    Proteopedia.Org
  • Already has all published macromolecules in Jmol.
  • Already highlights ligands (with full names) and functional sites.
  • Add your comments -- its a wiki!
  • Add customized molecular views easily with the built-in Scene Authoring Tool.

    • FirstGlance in Jmol (firstglance.jmol.org)
  • Adopted by Nature Structural and Molecular Biology (see their 3D View links), among others.
  • One-click each to see secondary structure, ligands, water, hydrophobic vs. hydrophilic, charge, salt bridges, cation-pi interactions.
  • Color keys, help, tool tips appear automatically.
  • Locate amino acids by name, sequence number or range.
  • Hide any chain, residue, or atom by clicking on it.
  • See the noncovalent interactions with any moiety you designate (by clicking on it), divided into seven categories (hydrogen bonds, van der Waals, etc.).
  • More..     Screenshots..     Paste molecules into Powerpoint®

    • Find Molecules To Explore:
  • Browse the Atlas of Macromolecules, which lists over 150 macromolecules, many shown in snapshots. Links are provided within the Atlas to explore each in FirstGlance in Jmol.
  • Search all published macromolecular 3D structures using pdblite.org (for nonspecialists) or OCA (research-quality searching). Both have direct links to FirstGlance in Jmol.
  • Advanced Search at the Protein Data Bank pdb.org. Harder to use, though more powerful. Lacks a direct link to FirstGlance in Jmol, so write down the PDB identification codes for molecules of interest.
ConSurf output: functional variability of the peptide-binding groove of MHC I shown in FirstGlance in Jmol.
IV. See Protein Evolution with the easy-to-use ConSurf Server. Comparing amino acid sequences in a family of proteins reveals highly conserved residues (or highly variable, think influenza). Evolutionary conservation of a patch of residues identifies it as supporting or performing a crucial function.

Just specify a PDB identification code and the name of one chain, and the rest is completely automatic! Functional patches of highly conserved (or highly variable) residues can be visualized easily using FirstGlance in Jmol, which is integrated into ConSurf.

ConSurf finds protein sequences related to your 3D structure, performs multiple sequence alignments, constructs a phylogenetic tree, and assigns a conservation level (and confidence interval) to each amino acid, all automatically! Optionally, you can select the sequences and upload your own multiple sequence alignment, which will be used by ConSurf's state-of-the-art algorithms, all of which are published.
Animation made with Polyview-3D. Larger samples and more information...
V. Animate Molecules in Powerpoint.
Print Publication-Quality Molecular Views.
Great for Students Assignments!


Thanks to Frieda Reichsman (MoleculesInMotion.Com) for improving the organization of this page, and for suggesting the name "Top 5".