Training, Outreach, and Education

The Molecule of the Month collection has highlighted stories about the biomolecular structures driving fundamental biology, biomedicine, bioenergy, and biotechnology since January 2000. This series has introduced millions of visitors to the shape and function of the 3D structures archived in the PDB. High resolution images for the entire series are available for download and reuse. The series was launched by David S. Goodsell (The Scripps Research Institute, RCSB PDB), who retired in 2024.

Starting in 2025, Janet Iwasa (University of Utah, RCSB PDB) took over this tradition of creating stories about critically important biological macromolecules in a rapidly changing world. Read more:

Molecule of the Month: Celebrating 25 Years of Storytelling and Announcing New Beginnings. RCSB PDB Quarterly Newsletter, Winter 2025

This 2026 calendar features six Molecule of the Month illustrations that were published in 2025 and six molecular illustrations that Janet created in collaboration with researchers around the world.

Since 2014, PDB-101 has focused on different topics to help build a collection molecular stories around a particular theme. Past topics have included cancer, diabetes, and peak performance.

In 2026, PDB-101 will highlight the structural stories of Biotechnology: using biology in industry.

Many useful enzymes are robust enough to be purified and used in industrial processes. Since they act on biological molecules, these enzymes are widely used in food production. Atomic structures have revealed how these enzymes work, and how they can be improved for better function.

Visit the PDB-101 Biotechnology Browser for more.

The RCSB PDB Molecule of the Month presents short accounts on selected molecules from the Protein Data Bank. Each installment includes an introduction to the structure and function of the molecule, a discussion of the relevance of the molecule to human health and welfare, and suggestions for how visitors might view these structures and access further details.

The most popular articles read in 2025 were: Hemoglobin (top-accessed article), Incretins, Abscisic Acid Receptor, H5 Hemagglutinin, Apolipoprotein B-100 and LDL Receptor, Enoyl-CoA Carboxylases/Reductases, Assembly Line Polyketide Synthases, Insulin, GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, and Arc.

The series has been created by Janet Iwasa (RCSB PDB, University of Utah) since January 2025. David S. Goodsell was the creator from 2000-2024. Read Molecule of the Month: Celebrating 25 Years of Storytelling and Announcing New Beginnings for details.

Explore these articles and more at PDB-101.

High-quality ligand-bound structures are indispensable for understanding the interaction between small molecule ligands and their target proteins and nucleic acids. In this webinar, we illustrate the PDB ligand validation and annotation process, and explain the metrics that measure ligand quality from various perspectives. We then demonstrate how to use these metrics to search PDB for high-quality ligand-bound structures.
Watch the webinar to learn how to:

• Understand PDB ligand validation process and ligand quality metrics
• Use the metrics to assess the quality of a particular ligand structure
• Compare multiple structures of the same ligand in different PDB entries
• Search PDB for best examples of ligands using text, chemical drawing, and APIs

The workshop is intended for:

• Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in biomedical science
• Faculty members and professionals involved in ligand-macromolecule interaction study and drug design
• Undergraduate students in any biology and/or biochemistry discipline

Questions? Please contact info@rcsb.org.
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The wwPDB Foundation made awards for outstanding student presentations.

The Protein Society

At the 2025 meeting of the The Protein Society (June 26 - 29; San Francisco, CA), an award was presented to Emily G. Schaffter.

Differential Interactions between Calmodulin and the IQ Motifs of the HECT E3 Ubiquitin Ligases UBE3B and UBE3C  

Emily G. Schaffter (1), Xiaohuan Lu (1), Anna E. Tinklenberg (1), Megan R. Hill (1), Rafael H. Levin (1), Javier F. Tabima (2), Shuanghong Huo (1), and Donald E. Spratt (1)

1. Gustaf H. Carlson School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, MA
2. Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA
   Many thanks to the meeting organizers and poster prize judges for making this award possible.

LACA

Two awards were presented at the 2025 meeting of the Brazilian Crystallographic Association and the Latin American Crystallographic Association (October 14-17; Fortaleza, Brazil).

Structural Determination of Human Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase in Complex with Antiviral Compounds

Miguel Arbeláez (1,2,3), Aline Dias da Purificação (1,2), Maria Cristina Nonato (1,2)

1. Center for Research and Advancement in Fragments and Molecular Targets (CRAFT)
2. Protein Crystallography Laboratory (LCP), Department of Biomolecular Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ribeirao Preto, Brazil
3. Physics of Novel Materials Group (GFNM), National University of Colombia

Three-dimensional structure of Bacillus subtilis L-asparaginase type II

F.P.F. Da Silva (1), J.G.S Gomes (1), L.C. Brandão (2), G.P. Furtado (2), B.A.M. Rocha (1)

1. Federal University of Ceará, Brazil
2. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Ceará (Fiocruz-CE), Brazil

Many thanks to LACA organizers and poster prize judges for making this award possible.

Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) is a well-studied protein that exhibits fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet or blue light, making it a powerful tool in molecular biology and biotechnology.

Visit PDB-101 to access a new GFP tutorial PDF and related training video.

For more GFP-related outreach materials,

• See Molecule of the Month features on GFP and GFP-like Proteins
• Build paper models of Green and Red Fluorescent Proteins
• 3D print GFP

Carrots contain beta-carotene. Our bodies convert it into a form of Vitamin A called retinal. Retinal is important for the first chemical step in human vision, called phototransduction.

This process starts in the retina which contains two types of photoreceptor cells: the rods and the cones. Although this video exemplifies how Vitamin A works in the rods, the molecular machinery in both types of cells is similar. Learn how Vitamin A activates the molecular pathways that are essential for vision.

Visit PDB-101 to watch Vitamin A and Vision.

Like and subscribe to RCSB PDB's YouTube channel to access all videos as they are released.