CMView: Interactive contact map visualization and analysis

Abstract

Contact maps are a valuable visualization tool in structural biology. They are a convenient way to display proteins in two dimensions and to quickly identify structural features such as domain architecture, secondary structure and contact clusters. We developed a tool called CMView which integrates rich contact map analysis with 3D visualization using PyMol. Our tool provides functions for contact map calculation from structure, basic editing, visualization in contact map and 3D space and structural comparison with different built-in alignment methods. A unique feature is the interactive refinement of structural alignments based on user selected substructures. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.