PDB-101 Focus: Peak Performance

03/15 

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 and diabetes.

In 2025, PDB-101 will highlight the structural stories of Peak Performance: the structural biology of athletics and well-being.

Athletes require bodies that are the best that is possible, all the way from molecules to muscles. By understanding the structure and function of our molecules, athletes can ensure that they are performing at their peak. This knowledge also informs the ways that we all can live our best lives, at all stages of our lives.

Visit the PDB-101 Peak Performance Browser for resources such as:

Hemoglobin, which ferries oxygen in our blood, and myoglobin, which stores oxygen ready for use in muscle cells, both require iron to function. However, the water and oxygen in our bodies may convert the iron ions to an unusable rust-like state. Our bodies maintain a store of usable iron by sheltering these ions inside ferritin, a hollow, spherical protein shown as a cross-section in this visualization. Once the iron ions (red) enter ferritin through tiny pores, they are converted to a different state and form a shell attached to the interior of the protein. An impressive 4500 iron ions can fit inside a single molecule of ferritin.
Visit the 2025 Calendar: The Structural Biology of Nutrition to learn more.
Illustration by RCSB PDB intern Xinyi Christine Zhang.

Learn more in the article Molecule of the Month: Ferritin and Transferrin

News Index

• 03/24 Developers: Switch to Sequence Coordinates Service by May 31, 2025

• 03/20 Meet RCSB PDB at the American Chemical Society Meeting

• 03/19 March 24 is World TB Day

• 03/15 PDB-101 Focus: Peak Performance

• 03/11 wwPDB News: Poster Prize Awarded at The Biophysical Society Meeting

• 03/10 wwPDB News: New version of PDB-IHM validation reports now include assessments of crosslinking mass spectrometry-based structure models

• 03/09 March 10-16: Brain Awareness Week

• 03/06 Register for the April 10 Virtual Office Hour on Sequence Annotations Viewer

• 03/05 IUCr2026 Awaits

• 03/04 Take the User Survey on Statistics and Win

• 03/04 Molecular Landscapes

• 03/03 Register for the May 8 Workshop on PDB Deposition

• 03/03 Register for March Training Events

• 03/02 March 4 is International HPV Awareness Day

• 02/25 Paper Published: From two epidemics to the global pandemic to mRNA vaccines and Paxlovid

• 02/25 Register for the April 7 Virtual Office Hour on Depositing IHM Data

• 02/21 Paper Published: Impact of the PDB on drug approvals

• 02/17 PDB-101 Focus: Peak Performance

• 02/17 Register Now for Webinar on API Access with Python

• 02/13 Meet RCSB PDB at The Biophysical Society Meeting

• 02/10 Register for the March 13 Virtual Office Hour on Supporting Extended PDB IDs

• 02/09 Molecular Valentines

• 02/05 Behind Molecule of the Month

• 02/02 Register Now for Webinar on Seeing Bird Flu in 3D

• 02/01 February 4 is World Cancer Day

• 01/28 Frontiers in Data Panel Webinar: Preparing Structural Science Data for 2085

• 01/23 Award-Winning Image

• 01/23 Developers: Collaborate with RCSB PDB at Rutgers

• 01/21 Watch the Webinar: Unlock Rapid Analyses Across the Whole PDB Using BinaryCIF

• 01/19 January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

• 01/17 Undergrads: Spend your summer with RCSB PDB

• 01/16 Top Molecules of the Month in 2024

• 01/16 wwPDB News: PDB-Dev now PDB-IHM

• 01/14 Winter Newsletter Published

• 01/12 Paper Published: Updated resources for exploring PDB structures and Computed Structure Models

• 01/09 Celebrate #NationalMilkDay

• 01/05 wwPDB News: Time-stamped Copies of PDB and EMDB Archives

• 01/05 Molecule of the Month: Celebrating 25 Years of Storytelling and Announcing New Beginnings