Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access published online on November 11, 2009
Nucleic Acids Research, doi:10.1093/nar/gkp1013
Database Issue |
Protein Geometry Database: a flexible engine to explore backbone conformations and their relationships to covalent geometry
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State University, 2011 ALS and 2Open Source Lab, Oregon State University, B211 Kerr Admin, Corvallis OR 97331, USA
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 541 737 3200; Fax: +1 541 737 0481; Email: karplusp{at}science.oregonstate.edu
Received August 14, 2009. Revised October 14, 2009. Accepted October 19, 2009.
The backbone bond lengths, bond angles, and planarity of a protein are influenced by the backbone conformation (
,
), but no tool exists to explore these relationships, leaving this area as a reservoir of untapped information about protein structure and function. The Protein Geometry Database (PGD) enables biologists to easily and flexibly query information about the conformation alone, the backbone geometry alone, and the relationships between them. The capabilities the PGD provides are valuable for assessing the uniqueness of observed conformational or geometric features in protein structure as well as discovering novel features and principles of protein structure. The PGD server is available at http://pgd.science.oregonstate.edu/ and the data and code underlying it are freely available to use and extend.