PDB Management by the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics

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An award is made to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey to manage the Protein Data Bank (PDB), an international repository and primary source for information about the structure of biological macromolecules. The PDB is a key research resource and a central component to our understanding of living systems. It serves a broad community of experimental, structural and computational scientists, and educators at all levels. PDB access is provided through primary web and ftp sites (www.pdb.org, ftp.pdb.org) or via multiple mirror sites distributed worldwide. The goal of the Research Collaboratory for Structural Biology (RCSB) in managing PDB is to provide a single, searchable archive of accurate and well-annotated data on experimentally determined macromolecular structure. Systems developed by RCSB are currently being used for data processing, archiving, distribution and query, as well as maintenance of the physical archive. In addition to continued operation of the primary data archiving, ingestion, and dissemination functions, the project will implement several enhancements to the existing infrastructure. First, they will introduce view interfaces to the PDB data aligned to specific user community interests such as model organisms, protein families, or ligand binding sites. Second, they will contribute to standards for quantitative representation of structural biology data via advanced data formats, metadata standards, software design, and data dissemination. Third, they will build upon the strengths of the international wwPDB partnership by introducing integrated data processing frameworks to improve efficiency and automation of data curation across the wwPDB partnership. Finally, the RCSB will continue to work with diverse communities to ensure the PDB resource best serves the interest if science, medicine, and education. The result of this effort will be a significant improvement in the utility and value of the Protein Data Bank for both specialists and non-specialists alike. Mechanisms for increasing the broader impacts of this work include the following: a series of workshops and meeting sessions, active participation in scientific meetings, a regular newsletter, the on-going use of a help desk to increase the access and utility of PDB for the specialist and non-specialist research community, and use of focus groups to insure maximum usability of PDB data. Participation in graduate and undergraduate coursework design and implementation and in structured research opportunities is being used to increase the impact of PDB on university-level education. Participation in teacher training workshops and a collaborative effort to launch a teacher development program provide opportunities to bring PDB resources to the K/12 environment. The general public is being made aware of PDB efforts through a traveling art exhibit and through frequent news releases and informational programs. Online-based activities like the Molecular Anatomy Project and Molecule of the Month will reach audiences nationally and globally. Collectively, these efforts will extend the benefits of PDB resources and activities to the broadest possible community.