E-MSD: the European Bioinformatics Institute Macromolecular Structure Database

The E- MSD macromolecular structure relational database ( http: / / www. ebi. ac. uk/ msd) is designed to be a single access point for protein and nucleic acid structures and related information. The database is derived from Protein Data Bank ( PDB) entries. Relational database technologies are used in a comprehensive cleaning procedure to ensure data uniformity across the whole archive. The search database contains an extensive set of derived properties, goodness- of-fit indicators, and links to other EBI databases including InterPro, GO, and SWISS- PROT, together with links to SCOP, CATH, PFAM and PROSITE. A generic search interface is available, coupled with a fast secondary structure domain search tool.