European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Methods. 2010 Mar;7(3 Suppl):S42-55. doi: 10.1038/nmeth.1427. Epub 2010 Mar 1.
Structural biology is rapidly accumulating a wealth of detailed information about protein function, binding sites, RNA, large assemblies and molecular motions. These data are increasingly of interest to a broader community of life scientists, not just structural experts. Visualization is a primary means for accessing and using these data, yet visualization is also a stumbling block that prevents many life scientists from benefiting from three-dimensional structural data. In this review, we focus on key biological questions where visualizing three-dimensional structures can provide insight and describe available methods and tools.
结构生物学正在快速积累大量关于蛋白质功能、结合部位、RNA、大型组装体和分子运动的详细信息。这些数据越来越受到生命科学界更广泛的群体的关注，而不仅仅是结构专家。可视化是访问和使用这些数据的主要手段，但可视化也是一个绊脚石，阻止了许多生命科学家从三维结构数据中受益。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了一些关键的生物学问题，通过可视化三维结构可以提供深入的了解，并描述了可用的方法和工具。
