Web3DMol: Interactive protein structure visualization based on WebGL

Abstract

A growing number of web-based databases and tools for protein research are being developed. There is now a widespread need for visualization tools to present the three-dimensional (3D) structure of proteins in web browsers. Here, we introduce our 3D modeling program--Web3DMol--a web application focusing on protein structure visualization in modern web browsers. Users submit a PDB identification code or select a PDB archive from their local disk, and Web3DMol will display and allow interactive manipulation of the 3D structure. Featured functions, such as sequence plot, fragment segmentation, measure tool and meta-information display, are offered for users to gain a better understanding of protein structure. Easy-to-use APIs are available for developers to reuse and extend Web3DMol. Web3DMol can be freely accessed at http://web3dmol.duapp.com/, and the source code is distributed under the MIT license.