2011/10/01 by Randy J. Read, Paul D. Adams, W.B. Arendall +14 · 477 citations
Materials Science · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Engineering · #Enzyme Structure and Function #Protein Structure and Dynamics #Biochemical and Molecular Research #Protein Data Bank #Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB) #Computer science #Task (project management) #Quality (philosophy) #Set (abstract data type) #Data mining #Class (philosophy) #Data quality #Task force #Data science #Protein structure #Chemistry #Artificial intelligence #Engineering #Physics #Systems engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.str.2011.08.006
published in Structure 19(10), 1395-1412 (Elsevier BV)
openalex publication_date 2011/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
This report presents the conclusions of the X-ray Validation Task Force of the worldwide Protein Data Bank (PDB). The PDB has expanded massively since current criteria for validation of deposited structures were adopted, allowing a much more sophisticated understanding of all the components of macromolecular crystals. The size of the PDB creates new opportunities to validate structures by comparison with the existing database, and the now-mandatory deposition of structure factors creates new opportunities to validate the underlying diffraction data. These developments highlighted the need for a new assessment of validation criteria. The Task Force recommends that a small set of validation data be presented in an easily understood format, relative to both the full PDB and the applicable resolution class, with greater detail available to interested users. Most importantly, we recommend that referees and editors judging the quality of structural experiments have access to a concise summary of well-established quality indicators.