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SKILL.md
PDB Database
Overview
RCSB PDB is the worldwide repository for 3D structural data of biological macromolecules. Search for structures, retrieve coordinates and metadata, perform sequence and structure similarity searches across 200,000+ experimentally determined structures and computed models.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be used when:
Searching for protein or nucleic acid 3D structures by text, sequence, or structural similarity
Downloading coordinate files in PDB, mmCIF, or BinaryCIF formats
Retrieving structural metadata, experimental methods, or quality metrics
Performing batch operations across multiple structures
Integrating PDB data into computational workflows for drug discovery, protein engineering, or structural biology research
Core Capabilities
1. Searching for Structures
Find PDB entries using various search criteria:
Text Search: Search by protein name, keywords, or descriptions
Combining Queries: Use logical operators to build complex searches
from rcsbapi.search import TextQuery, AttributeQuery
from rcsbapi.search.attrs import rcsb_entry_info
# High-resolution human proteins
query1 = AttributeQuery(
attribute=rcsb_entity_source_organism.scientific_name,
operator="exact_match",
value="Homo sapiens"
)
query2 = AttributeQuery(
attribute=rcsb_entry_info.resolution_combined,
operator="less",
value=2.0
)
combined_query = query1 & query2 # AND operation
results = list(combined_query())
2. Retrieving Structure Data
Access detailed information about specific PDB entries:
Basic Entry Information:
from rcsbapi.data import Schema, fetch
# Get entry-level data
entry_data = fetch("4HHB", schema=Schema.ENTRY)
print(entry_data["struct"]["title"])
print(entry_data["exptl"][0]["method"])
Polymer Entity Information:
# Get protein/nucleic acid information
entity_data = fetch("4HHB_1", schema=Schema.POLYMER_ENTITY)
print(entity_data["entity_poly"]["pdbx_seq_one_letter_code"])
import requests
pdb_id = "4HHB"
# Download PDB format
pdb_url = f"https://files.rcsb.org/download/{pdb_id}.pdb"
response = requests.get(pdb_url)
with open(f"{pdb_id}.pdb", "w") as f:
f.write(response.text)
# Download mmCIF format
cif_url = f"https://files.rcsb.org/download/{pdb_id}.cif"
response = requests.get(cif_url)
with open(f"{pdb_id}.cif", "w") as f:
f.write(response.text)
4. Working with Structure Data
Common operations with retrieved structures:
Parse and Analyze Coordinates:
Use BioPython or other structural biology libraries to work with downloaded files:
from Bio.PDB import PDBParser
parser = PDBParser()
structure = parser.get_structure("protein", "4HHB.pdb")
# Iterate through atoms
for model in structure:
for chain in model:
for residue in chain:
for atom in residue:
print(atom.get_coord())