Molecule of the Month reaches 150

06/05

Click to view a slideshow of selected Molecule of the Month features.

This month's article on Sliding Clamps is the 150^th Molecule of the Month installment. With descriptions of molecules from AAA+ proteases to zinc fingers, Molecule of the Month provides an easy introduction to macromolecular structures and the PDB archive. View a slideshow for some other Molecule of the Month milestones by clicking on the image on the right.

Written and illustrated since January 2000 by David S. Goodsell (The Scripps Research Institute), each entry links to high resolution illustrations, suggests topics for further exploration, and hosts customized, interactive 3D molecular views. Specific structures are highlighted each month in the article, and shown in specific PDB-101 views (such as this example of a sliding clamp attached to flap endonuclease 1 (PDB 1ul1)).

As the keystone of the PDB-101 educational resource, the Molecule of the Month supports teachers and students at all levels in their exploration of biology at a structural level.

PDB-101 supports different ways of exploring the Molecule of the Month, including:

• Quick alphabetical pulldown menu. Jump from cholera toxin to influenza neuramindidase to anthrax toxin
• Structural View of Biology interface. Start with key topic categories and subcategories to drill down to individual articles and molecule examples. From the Biological Energy category, for example, users can select the subcategory Capturing the Energy in Food to find articles about structures such as pepsin, an enzyme that digests proteins. Then explore highlighted examples of pepsin (5pep) and pepsinogen (3psg)
• Molecule of the Month archive as organized by Title, Date, and Category, with links to individual PDF and ePub versions

Molecule of the Month articles are available from the main RCSB PDB home page, top bar searches, structure search results, and Structure Summary pages.

Have suggestions for future Molecule of the Month columns? Let us know!

Related Resources

• Molecule of the Month citation and usage information
• Archive of high resolution Molecule of the Month TIFF images
• The Art of Science: A picture is worth a thousand words - and a million hits (Rutgers Today article about David Goodsell and the Molecule of the Month)

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