VMD - Visual Molecular Dynamics

VMD is a molecular visualization program for displaying, animating, and analyzing large biomolecular systems using 3-D graphics and built-in scripting. VMD supports computers running MacOS-X, Unix, or Windows, is distributed free of charge, and includes source code.
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Spotlight

The cells of higher organisms store their genetic material, the genome, in the so-called nucleus where they organize transcription of DNA into messenger-RNA, the blueprint for proteins. The messenger-RNA leaves the cell to be decoded by ribosomes that synthesize the respective proteins. Transcription factors, also proteins, control in the nucleus which parts of the cells' genomes are transcribed. Naturally, the access to the nucleus as well as exit from it must be restricted to transcription factors and related biomolecules. This is achieved by the nuclear pores, wide channels lined with brushes of polymers. The polymers are disordered proteins and prevent passage for most cellular proteins, except for so-called transport factors which bus transcription factors, messenger RNA, and certain larger biomolecule into and out of the nucleus. How transport factors are permitted to pass the nuclear pores, despite many studies, has been largely unknown. Molecular dynamics simulations, based on relevant crystallographic structures, using NAMD provided a comprehensive picture on the passage mechanism as reported recently. The simulations, analyzed with VMD, revealed that transport factors are dotted rather regularly on their surface with spots that bind to the brushes of nuclear pore proteins. While any protein may accidentally exhibit such a binding spot or two, only transport factors offer a regular pattern of such spots on their surface that apparently is their passport permitting them movement into and out of the nucleus, i.e., helping them to glide through the pores' protein brushes. More on simulations of transport factors can be found here.
Other Spotlights
Cse1p

image size:
movie: 4.6MB
made with VMD

Overview

Molecular representations
Supported molecular file formats
GPU-accelerated computing
Interactive molecular dynamics
Required software
Programs that use VMD
VMD publications
How to cite VMD, Papers citing VMD

Download

Download (all versions)
VMD 1.8.6 (MacOS-X, Unix, Windows)
VMD plugin library
VMD script library
License, Copyright and Disclaimer

Documentation and Support

User and installation guides
Quick help
FAQ
VMD-L mailing list
Bug List

News and Announcements

2009 VMD Calendar
VMD/NAMD at SC2008 conference, Nov 15-21, 2008
NVIDIA Appoints First CUDA Center of Excellence
Using VMD - an introductory tutorial Current Protocols - Bioinformatics, 2009. In press.
Membrane Structural Biology book cover made with VMD
GPU accelerated cutoff pair potentials paper, ACM Computing Frontiers, pp. 273-282, 2008
GPU Computing paper, Proceedings of the IEEE, 96:879-899, 2008
J. Comp. Chemistry cover image made with VMD
GPU-accelerated molecular modeling paper, J. Comp. Chem, 28:2618-2640, 2007
Nature Biotechnology cover image made with VMD (Jul 2007)
VMD 1.8.6 (MacOS-X, Unix, Windows) (Apr 2007)
VMD outline rendering style inspired by the work of David S. Goodsell (Apr 2007)
Create 3-D PDFs with VMD and Acrobat3D (Feb 2007)
Advanced VMD/Tachyon figure rendering (Feb 2007)
VMD Images and Movies Tutorial (Jan 2007)
Past announcements

Gallery

Gallery of Posters, Images, and Movies made with VMD
Events and tutorial picture gallery

Development

VMD User Survey Results
VMD development status and pre-release test downloads
CVS source code access
VMD Programmer's documentation

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