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wwPDB News12-August-2010 Upcoming Meeting: PDB Symposium at ACSOn Sunday, August 22 at 1:30 p.m., The PDB and Chemistry symposium will be held as part of the American Chemical Society's Fall National Meeting (Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 157C). Symposium presenters will explore all aspects of the chemical components found in the PDB archive:
06-August-2010 Validation Report PDFswwPDB members provide depositors with detailed reports that include the results of geometric and experimental data checking as part of the structure annotation process. These documents are available from all wwPDB annotation sites as PDF files so that they may be easily reviewed and shared by depositors. As these PDB validation reports provide an assessment of structure quality while keeping the coordinate file confidential, we encourage journal editors and referees to request them from depositors as part of the manuscript submission and review process. The reports are date-stamped, and display the wwPDB processing site logo. They contain essentially the same information, regardless of PDB annotation site (Example reports: RCSB PDB | PDBe | PDBj). The validation reports will continue to be developed and improved as we receive recommendations from our Validation Task Forces for X-ray, NMR, EM, and small angle scattering methods, and as we further develop our data deposition and processing procedures. PDB validation reports are already required by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) journals as part of their submission process and are described in an editorial recently published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. Questions about these reports and the annotation process may be sent to info@wwpdb.org. 13-July-2010 RSS Feed for wwPDB NewsSubscribe to the wwPDB RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed to get the latest news as it is published. This feed pushes information to RSS readers so users can easily keep up to date with wwPDB announcements. The wwPDB News Feed can be accessed by selecting the icon in the top menu bar. 1-July-2010 Version 2 NMR Restraint Files Available from the wwPDB FTPA new set of NMR restraint data files have been added to the wwPDB FTP. These restraint files, identified as Version 2 files, are represented in NMR-STAR 3.1 format, contain current PDB atom nomenclature, and provide accurate atom-level correspondences to the NMR model coordinate files in the current archive. Restraint files containing restraint data as originally deposited (Version 1 files) will remain on the site and will continue to be updated regularly as new NMR entries are released. For detailed information, please see wwPDB News: Version 2 NMR Restraint Files to be Released in the wwPDB FTP on June 30, 2010. 30-April-2010 wwPDB To Provide Validation Reports as PDFsAs part of the structure annotation process, wwPDB members provide depositors with detailed reports that include the results of geometric and experimental data checking. Beginning May 17, 2010 these documents will be available from all wwPDB annotation sites as PDF files so that they may be easily reviewed and shared by depositors. As these PDB validation reports provide an assessment of structure quality while keeping the coordinate file confidential, we encourage journal editors and referees to request them from depositors as part of the manuscript submission and review process. PDB validation reports are already required by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) journals as part of their submission process (see Baker et al. (2010) Acta Cryst. F66: 112). The reports are date-stamped, and display the wwPDB processing site logo. They contain essentially the same information, regardless of PDB annotation site. The validation reports will continue to be developed and improved as we receive recommendations from our Validation Task Forces for X-ray, NMR, EM, and small angle scattering methods, and as we further develop our data deposition and processing procedures. Questions about these reports and the annotation process may be sent to info@wwpdb.org. Version 2 NMR Restraint Files to be Released in the wwPDB FTP on June 30, 2010With the June 30, 2010 update, a new set of NMR restraint data files will be added to the wwPDB FTP archive (ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org, ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk, and ftp://pdb.protein.osaka-u.ac.jp). These restraint files, which will be identified as Version 2 files, are represented in NMR-STAR 3.1 format, contain current PDB atom nomenclature, and provide accurate atom-level correspondences to the NMR model coordinate files in the current wwPDB archive. Restraint files containing restraint data as originally deposited (Version 1 files) will remain on the site and will continue to be updated regularly as new NMR entries are released.
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| RCSB PDB: | ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org/pub/pdb/README |
| PDBe: | ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/rcsb/pdb-remed iated/README |
| PDBj: | ftp://pdb.protein.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub/pdb/README |
| RCSB PDB: | ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org/pub/pdb/doc/newsletters/ |
| PDBe: | ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/rcsb /pdb-remediated/doc/newsletters/ |
| PDBj: | ftp://pdb.protein.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub/pdb/doc/newslett ers/ |
| RCSB PDB: | ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org/pub/pdb/derived_data/NR/ |
| PDBe: | ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/rcsb/pdb-remediated/derived_data/NR/ |
| PDBj: | ftp://pdb.protein.osaka-u.ac.jp/pub/pdb/derived_data/NR/ |
The new URL for this data is:
RCSB PDB: ftp://resources.rcsb.org/sequence/clusters/
Starting July 1, 2009, Gerard Kleywegt will lead the Protein Data Bank Europe (PDBe) project at the European Bioinformatics Institute (Hinxton, UK). During the last 17 years he has been working in Uppsala, Sweden, a center of excellence for biomolecular crystallography and has developed many tools that are widely used by structural biologists worldwide. He has an extensive publication record and has served on the PDBe Scientific Advisory Board for the last few years. He has also been one of the European representatives on the wwPDB advisory committee. He has a very strong international reputation and is well respected in the structural biology community.
Gerard will be replacing Kim Henrick, who has been the team leader of the PDBe since 2001. During his tenure at the EBI, Kim has made enormous contributions to the PDBe at the EBI, by establishing and leading a strong team that has developed a wide variety of services. Kim was a strong advocate for the formation of the wwPDB in 2003. He has played a key role in developing the standards for representing all the data in the archive from small molecules to very large biological assemblies, and in leading the remediation efforts. Kim's deep knowledge of the PDB, his very critical eye, and sharp wit will be greatly missed by the wwPDB.
The members of the wwPDB look forward to working closely with Gerard and wish Kim all the best in the next chapter of his career.
17-March-2009A newly standardized and enhanced version of the entire PDB archive at ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org has been released.
Files originally released before December 2, 2008 will follow PDB Format Version 3.15; files originally released after that date will follow Version 3.20. For detailed file format documentation, please see www.wwpdb.org/docs.html.
A time-stamped snapshot of the PDB archive before this release is available from ftp://snapshots.wwpdb.org/ in the directory 20090316.
Users who maintain local copies of the wwPDB FTP will have to download the entire archive. Scripts to help in this process are available at www.wwpdb.org/downloads.html.
These data reflect the wwPDB's continuing commitment to providing accurate and detailed data to users worldwide. This release includes improvements and enhancements to the data, including details about the chemistry of the polymer and the ligands bound to it, biological assemblies, and binding sites of ligands and metal ions. An overview (PDF) is provided at the wwPDB website.
Questions may be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
10-March-2009The wwPDB will release a newly standardized and enhanced version of the entire PDB archive at ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org with the March 17, 2009 update. *Please note the revised date.
Files originally released before December 2, 2008 will follow PDB Format Version 3.15; files originally released after that date will follow Version 3.20. For detailed file format documentation, please see www.wwpdb.org/docs.html.
A time-stamped snapshot of the PDB archive before this release will be available from ftp://snapshots.wwpdb.org/.
Users who maintain local copies of the wwPDB FTP will have to download the entire archive. Scripts to help in this process are available at http://www.wwpdb.org/downloads.html.
These data reflect the wwPDB's continuing commitment to providing accurate and detailed data to users worldwide.
Questions may be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
11-February-2009The wwPDB will release a newly standardized and enhanced version of the entire PDB archive at ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org in March 2009.
Files originally released before December 2, 2008 will follow PDB Format Version 3.15; files originally released after that date will follow Version 3.20. For detailed file format documentation, please see www.wwpdb.org/docs.html.
A time-stamped snapshot of the PDB archive before this release will be available from ftp://snapshots.wwpdb.org/.
Users who maintain local copies of the wwPDB FTP will have to download the entire archive. Scripts to help in this process are available at http://www.wwpdb.org/downloads.html.
These data reflect the wwPDB's continuing commitment to providing accurate and detailed data to users worldwide.
Questions may be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
wwPDB deposition tools, methods, and policies have been described in
Data Deposition and Annotation at the Worldwide Protein Data Bank Molecular Biotechnology (2008) [ doi:10.1107/S0907444908017393 ]
Shuchismita Dutta, Kyle Burkhardt, Jasmine Young, Ganesh J. Swaminathan, Takanori Matsuura, Kim Henrick, Haruki Nakamura and Helen M. Berman
A time-stamped snapshot of the PDB archive (ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org) as of January 5, 2009 has been added to ftp://snapshots.rcsb.org/. Snapshots of the PDB have been archived annually since 2004. It is hoped that these snapshots will provide readily identifiable data sets for research on the PDB archive.
The script at ftp://snapshots.rcsb.org/rsyncSnapshots.sh may be used to make a local copy of a snapshot or sections of the snapshot. The directory 20090105 includes the 55,072 experimentally-determined coordinate files that were current at that time. Coordinate data are available in PDB, mmCIF, and XML formats. The date and time stamp of each file indicates the last time the file was modified.
The Worldwide Protein Data Bank Advisory Committee (wwPDBAC) met in Hinxton on September 29, 2008. The presentations by wwPDB members and the report from the wwPDBAC are available http://www.wwpdb.org/wwpdbac.html.
A new standardized version of the PDB archive will be available from ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org in early 2009. All entries released prior to December 2, 2008 will be re-released as PDB Format Version 3.15 files. This release will overwrite all existing files. A snapshot of the archive before this release will be available from ftp://snapshots.wwpdb.org/.
For documentation, please see www.wwpdb.org/docs.html.
Questions may be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
19-November-2008
Beginning December 2, 2008, all newly-released PDB entries will follow PDB File Format Contents Guide Version 3.20 (PDF | HTML). This format includes site and assembly annotation, and supports the nomenclature introduced in 2007 in the Chemical Component Dictionary. The Version 3.20 Changes Guide highlights the lists changes in format from 3.1.
Please send any questions to info@wwpdb.org.
15-September-2008
During the past year, the wwPDB annotators have collaborated on a project to clarify the details and procedures related to data processing and annotation. The result is a PDB Contents Guide Version 3.2 that more fully describes the PDB file format. This document is available as a PDF and in HTML, and is accompanied by a document highlighting these clarifications.
In the coming months, all files released by the wwPDB will follow the format as described in this document. Details will be made available on this website and at www.wwpdb.org.
14-August-2008
The wwPDB partners will be exhibiting at the XXI Congress & General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr; August 23 - 31 in Osaka, Japan) at booth #14. Please stop by for website demonstrations and to meet with wwPDB members from around the globe.
Helen M. Berman (RCSB PDB) will present a keynote lecture entitled "What the Protein Data Bank tells us about the past, present, and future of structural biology" on Sunday August 24.
On Saturday, August 30, John Westbrook (RCSB PDB) will present "Data Quality in the PDB Archive".
11-August-2008
Downloads from the PDB archive are one of the primary means of accessing scientific structure results. While there are cross-links between the corresponding scientific publication and the PDB entry, in many cases it is the structure file that is accessed and downloaded more frequently.
The wwPDB website has recently added statistics for FTP and HTTP (web) downloads and views for each PDB structure. The high volume of data downloaded around the world underscores the importance of including informative, accurate, and annotated PDB data in the archive. Data are available by month, starting from August 2007, for each wwPDB site. These statistics can be accessed a number of ways:
All download statistics are updated monthly, and collected on an aggregate, rather than individual, basis. The wwPDB does not share server log information with third parties for marketing or other purposes.
To access these features, select Statistics>Downloads from the top menu bar at http://www.wwpdb.org. The wwPDB website also offers links to member sites, documentation, news, and deposition and processing statistics. Questions may be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
08-May-2008
A meeting of the wwPDB X-ray Validation Task Force was held to collect recommendations and develop consensus on additional validation that should be performed on PDB entries, and to identify software applications to perform validation tasks.
The workshop was organized by Randy Read (Cambridge University), and sponsored by the RCSB PDB & PDBe. Detailed information about the workshop is available at http://www.wwpdb.org/workshop/2008/index.html.
21-April-2008
Data deposition and annotation at the Worldwide Protein Data Bank. Shuchismita Dutta, Kyle Burkhardt, Ganesh J. Swaminathan, Takashi Kosada, Kim Henrick, Haruki Nakamura, Helen M. Berman (2008) in Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 426: Structural Proteomics: High-Throughput Methods (Bostjan Kobe, Mitchell Guss, Thomas Huber, eds.), pp. 81-101.
BioMagResBank (BMRB) as a partner in the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB): new policies affecting biomolecular NMR depositions. John L. Markley, Eldon L. Ulrich, Helen M. Berman, Kim Henrick, Haruki Nakamura, and Hideo Akutsu (2008) J Biomol NMR 40(3): 153-155
08-April-2008
With this week's update, the PDB archive reached a significant milestone in its 37-year history. The 50,000th molecule structure was released into the archive, joining other structures vital to pharmacology, bioinformatics, and education.
The worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) has seen the archive double in size since 2004. The PDB was founded in 1971 with seven structures at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Today, the wwPDB receives approximately 25 new experimentally-determined structures from scientists each day for inclusion in the archive. More than 5 million files are downloaded from the PDB archive every month. Users include structural biologists, computational biologists, biochemists, and molecular biologists in academia, government, and industry as well as educators and students.
It is estimated that the size of the PDB archive will triple to 150,000 structures by the year 2014.
The 50,000th structure was released a week after another milestone event--the publication of the 100th edition of the Molecule of the Month.
Proteins, one of the main building blocks for living organisms, come in a variety of shapes, with the form of a protein corresponding to its function. The structures housed in the PDB demonstrate great diversity in size, complexity, and function, including:
A time-stamped snapshot of the PDB archive (ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org)
as of January 7, 2008 has been added to ftp://snapshots.rcsb.org/.
Snapshots of the PDB have been archived annually since 2004. It is hoped that these snapshots will provide readily identifiable data sets for research on the PDB archive.
The script at ftp://snapshots.rcsb.org/rsyncSnapshots.sh may be used to make a local copy of a snapshot or sections of the snapshot.
The directory 20080107 includes the 48,161 experimentally-determined coordinate files that were current as of January 7, 2008. Coordinate data are available in PDB, mmCIF, and XML formats. The date and time stamp of each file indicates the last time the file was modified.
Data in the PDB archive currently follow either PDB File Format
Version 3.0 or 3.1. This is indicated in REMARK 4 of the file.
Version 3.0 is the format used for files released as a result of the
Remediation Project.
Since August 1, 2007, all files processed and released into the
archive follow Version 3.1. When modifications are made to files
released prior to that date, they are then re-released in Version 3.1.
Version 3.1 differs in descriptions of the biological unit (REMARK
300/350), geometry (REMARK 500), atom/residues modeled as zero
occupancy (REMARK 475/480), non-polymer residues with missing atoms
(REMARK 610), and metal coordination (REMARK 620). Documentation
describing the differences between these versions is available at
http://www.wwpdb.org/docs.html.
Beginning March 4, 2008, it will be indicated in the REVDAT record
with the name "VERSN" when a Version 3.0 file is re-released as
Version 3.1.
For example, if the journal record is updated in an entry that still
follows Version 3.0, the REVDAT would appear as:
REVDAT 1 04-MAR-08 1ABC 1 JRNL VERSN
REVDAT 1 13-FEB-07 1ABC 0
There is no change to how depositors submit their files. Any required
changes in nomenclature can be made automatically by the wwPDB during
the annotation process.
Documentation about file formats and the Remediation Project is available at www.wwpdb.org.
wwPDB Paper Published
"Remediation of the protein data bank" archive describes the scope and methods of the wwPDB's Remedation Project
K. Henrick; Z. Feng; W. F. Bluhm; D. Dimitropoulos; J. F. Doreleijers; S. Dutta; J. L. Flippen-Anderson; J. Ionides; C. Kamada; E. Krissinel; C. L. Lawson; J. L. Markley; H. Nakamura; R. Newman; Y. Shimizu; J. Swaminathan; S. Velankar; J. Ory; E. L. Ulrich; W. Vranken; J. Westbrook; R. Yamashita; H. Yang; J. Young; M. Yousufuddin; H. M. Berman
Nucleic Acids Research 2008 36(Database issue):D426-D433; doi:10.1093/nar/gkm937
Announcement: Experimental Data Will Be Required for
Depositions Starting February 1, 2008
Effective February 1, 2008, structure factor amplitudes/intensities (for crystal structures) and restraints (for NMR structures) will a mandatory requirement for PDB deposition.
These data must be deposited at a member site of the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (www.wwpdb.org): RCSB PDB (www.pdb.org), PDBe (www.ebi.ac.uk/msd), PDBj (www.pdbj.org), or BMRB (www.bmrb.wisc.edu).
Data can be released as soon as they have been processed and approved. There is a one-year limit on the length of time a structure and its experimental data can be put on hold, including structures that are on hold until the associated paper is published (HPUB).
This policy was developed as a result of comments and recommendations from the PDB user community, including the Commission on Biological Macromolecules of the International Union of Crystallography and the NMR Task Force, and has been endorsed by the wwPDB Advisory Committee.
Questions relating to depositions should be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
22-November-2007Advisory Committee Meeting
The world wide Protein Data Bank Advisory Committee (wwPDBAC) met in Princeton, NJ on September 7, 2007. The presentations by wwPDB members and the report from the wwPDBAC are available. After this meeting, a "Funding Forum" took place. At this forum, the wwPDB AC sought advice on funding options for the continued operation of the wwPDB organization from the representatives present from the agencies that fund the individual groups. A report from that meeting is also available.
14-August-2007wwPDB Paper Published
Realism about PDB Nature Biotechnology 25, 845 - 846 (2007)
31-July-2007Remediated PDB Archive Released
The PDB archive has been remediated by the wwPDB. It is available at ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org.
All data in the PDB archive reflects the new features incorporated as part of this wwPDB project, including standardized IUPAC nomenclature for chemical components. Users may have to download new software to view the files with the new nomenclature (e.g., RasMol, Chimera). Please see http://remediation.wwpdb.org/software.html for details.
A snapshot of the unremediated PDB archive (as of July 31, 2007) will be available at ftp.rcsb.org.
Many thanks to the PDB community for all of the feedback on this project.
19-July-2007Remediated PDB Archive To Be Released on August 1, 2007
The PDB archive has been remediated and will be available starting August 1, 2007 from ftp://ftp.wwpdb.org.
All data in the PDB archive will reflect the new features incorporated as part of this wwPDB project, including standardized IUPAC nomenclature for chemical components.
Users may have to download new software to view the files with the new nomenclature (e.g., RasMol, Chimera). Please see http://remediation.wwpdb.org/software.html for details.
A snapshot of the unremediated PDB archive (as of July 31, 2007) will be available at ftp://ftp.rcsb.org.
An FAQ about this project and transition is available at http://www.wwpdb.org/docs.html. Questions may also be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
Announcement: Data Processing Procedures
Starting August 1, 2007, files processed and released into the archive by the wwPDB sites will reflect the new features incorporated as part of the remediation project. These files will follow the PDB Exchange Dictionary (PDBx) v1.045 and the Protein Data Bank Contents Guide Version 3.1.
There is no change to how depositors submit their files. Any required changes in nomenclature can be made automatically by the wwPDB during the annotation process.
24-Apr-2007
Announcement: Release of Remediated PDB Data
The wwPDB (www.wwpdb.org) has collaborated on a project to remediate the PDB archive and create a new set of corrected files.
The entire archive has been reviewed and remediated with the objectives of improving the detailed chemical description of non-polymer and monomer chemical components; standardizing atom nomenclature; updating sequence database references and taxonomies; resolving any remaining differences between chemical and macromolecular sequences; improving the representation of viruses; and verifying primary citation assignments. In addition, the atom nomenclature for amino acids and nucleotides now conforms with IUPAC standards.
A new FTP server containing the remediated data has been set up for testing. The access details for this site are provided at http://www.wwpdb.org/remediation-downloads.html. The new ftp site will be updated weekly in concert with the current production site at ftp://ftp.rcsb.org. Both sites share the same directory structure. Starting May 1, the remediated data will be served using gzip compression.
Your input is very important to us. PDB users are encouraged to test the remediated data files between April and July 2007. The details of the final transition will be announced on this website.
Detailed information about this project can be found at http://remediation.wwpdb.org.
Comments about the files should be sent to info@wwpdb.org. Major announcements will be made at the wwPDB website (http://www.wwpdb.org) as well as on the individual member websites.
23-Jan-2007The directory 20070102 includes the 40,933 experimentally-determined coordinate files that were current (i.e., not obsolete) as of January 2, 2007. Coordinate data are available in PDB, mmCIF, and XML formats. The date and time stamp of each file indicates the last time the file was modified.
Scripts are available to automatically download data:
Entries in the PDB archive have been processed by the three members of the wwPDB (RCSB PDB, PDBe, and PDBj).
16-Jan-2007
wwPDB members work to annotate all data deposited to the PDB archive. Information about data file formats, annotation procedures, and remediation efforts are described below.
Questions about these projects should be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
The third meeting of the world wide Protein Data Bank Advisory Committee (wwPDBAC) was held in Tokyo, Japan on October 27, 2006. The report of the meeting is available in PDF format.
28-Nov-2006
A paper describing the wwPDB data deposition and access information, data uniformity efforts, and more has been published:
The worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB): ensuring a single, uniform
archive of PDB data
Helen Berman; Kim Henrick; Haruki Nakamura; John L. Markley
Nucleic Acids Research 2006; doi: 10.1093/nar/gkl971
Effective October 15, 2006, PDB depositions will be restricted to atomic coordinates that are substantially determined by experimental measurements on specimens containing biological macromolecules. This policy was recommended and endorsed by a working group comprised of structural and computational biologists and endorsed by the wwPDB advisory committee. Thus, theoretical model depositions (such as models determined purely in silico using, for example, homology or ab initio methods) will no longer be accepted.
Theoretical models that have been previously released or that will be released from now until October 15, 2006 will continue to be publicly available via the existing models archive at ftp://ftp.rcsb.org/pub/pdb/data/structures/models/current/.
A summary of the implementation plan for the phasing out of theoretical models is available in HTML and PDF formats. A paper describing the outcome of the Workshop on Archiving Structural Models of Biological Macromolecules will be available in the August 16 issue of Structure1.
Questions about this transition should be sent to info@wwpdb.org.
1.H.M. Berman, S.K. Burley, W. Chiu, A. Sali, A. Adzhubei, P.E. Bourne, S.H. Bryant, J. Roland L. Dunbrack, K. Fidelis, J. Frank, A. Godzik, K. Henrick, A. Joachimiak, B. Heymann, D. Jones, J.L. Markley, J. Moult, G.T. Montelione, C. Orengo, M.G. Rossmann, B. Rost, H. Saibil, T. Schwede, D.M. Standley, and J.D. Westbrook (2006) Outcome of a workshop on archiving structural models of biological macromolecules. Structure. 14: 1211-1217.
21-Jun-2006Data from X-ray crystallographic, NMR, and cryo-electron microscopic experiments are deposited to the PDB archive by scientists from all over the world.
PDB data are processed by an international effort involving members of the wwPDB the RCSB PDB, the Macromolecular Structure Database (MSD) at the EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute, and Protein Data Bank Japan (PDBj). wwPDB annotators work with these data to make sure they are represented in the PDB archive in the best way possible. They run a series of checks, make corrections, and correspond with the depositors in an effort to make the data public as quickly and accurately as possible.
Statistics about the number of structures deposited, processed, and released by the wwPDB are available at http://www.wwpdb.org/stats.html.
27-Apr-2006The second meeting of the world wide Protein Data Bank Advisory Committee (wwPDBAC) was held in Florence, Italy on August 30, 2005. The report of the meeting is available in PDF format.
17-Feb-2005Starting with January 2005, time-stamped yearly snapshots of the PDB Archive will be available from ftp://snapshots.rcsb.org/. It is hoped that these snapshots will provide readily identifiable data sets for research on the PDB archive.
Currently, the directory 20050106 is available. This directory contains the exact and complete contents of the FTP archive as it appeared on January 6, 2005. This includes the 29040 experimentally-determined coordinate files that were current (i.e., not obsolete) in PDB and mmCIF formats. Data in XML (PDBML) format are not included in this first snapshot, but will be made available on DVD in the near future. Subsequent snapshots on this FTP server will include data in PDB, mmCIF, and PDBML formats.
The snapshot follows the historical directory structure -- coordinate files are contained in subdirectories named after the two middle characters of the PDB ID, for example, 100d is found in the directory '00'.
The date and time stamp of each file indicates the last time the file was modified. Entries in the PDB archive have been processed by the three members of the wwPDB (RCSB, PDBe, and PDBj).
The first meeting of the world wide Protein Data Bank Advisory Committee (wwPDBAC) was held in Washington, D.C. on November 21, 2004. The report of the meeting is available in PDF format.
Today the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB), the Macromolecular Structure Database at the EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (PDBe), and Protein Data Bank Japan (PDBj) announced a collaboration to form the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB; http://www.wwpdb.org/). The announcement is published in the December issue of Nature Structural Biology [H.M. Berman, K. Henrick, H. Nakamura (2003): Announcing the worldwide Protein Data Bank. Nature Structural Biology 10 (12), p. 980].
The collaboration reflects the growing international and interdisciplinary nature of scientific research, and formalizes the global character of the PDB, which has been used as an international resource for the collection and sharing of three-dimensional information on proteins and other large molecules since its inception 32 years ago. The formation of the wwPDB will be transparent to users and will ensure the overall quality and consistency of data directly available through the PDB.
"By providing a formal mechanism for standardizing the presentation of PDB data, software developers and users of the data will be assured of consistent data. At the same time, it is hoped that this wwPDB will allow for individual creativity in how the data are presented and made available to the community," said Helen Berman, director of the RCSB PDB and Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Kim Henrick, head of the PDBe said, "The PDB is a canonical research resource that transcends both scientific and political boundaries. The wwPDB agreement among the three equal partners elevates the responsibility for the deposition and accessibility of the data to a global level. The EBI has been a longtime deposition site and advisor to the PDB and the evolution of that role is a welcome development."
Head of the PDBj group at the Institute for Protein Research in Osaka University, Haruki Nakamura said, "The PDBj has become the representative for the PDB throughout Asia and Oceania. With the recent explosion of interest in structural biology and bioinformatics research in the region, which would not be possible without the PDB, it is a natural step for us to formalize our involvement through the wwPDB."
The PDB is the single archive of biological macromolecular structure data, which is made freely and publicly available to researchers, educators, and students. Worldwide, the PDB receives over 60 million hits per year. As of October 28, 2003, it contained 22,984 structures, a number that has been growing exponentially.
According to a 10-year agreement signed by the 3 founding members of the wwPDB, the sites will share responsibilities in data deposition, data processing, and distribution. An international advisory board will be formed to support the collaboration.