El Protein Data Bank (PDB) y su impacto en la investigación científica

The Protein Data Bank, abbreviated as PDB, is the structural information bank of proteins at the atomic level, where all the three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules determined by the world scientific community are deposited and which includes proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. Its use is free, and until november 2021 it has 184,202 structures deposited. Most of the three-dimensional information that the PDB has with respect to biomolecules refers to proteins with 158,644 structures deposited and the most used technique for the determination of structures is X-ray diffraction with 161,144 structures deposited. In this year, the PDB celebrates 50 years, and the information it provides us has revolutionized the vision we had about biological processes at the atomic level. The Protein Data Bank is a very large database of structures and is also a source of much important information on various macromolecules, which can be analyzed by a variety of professionals such as: crystallographers, chemists, biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, doctors, pharmacists, among others. Knowing the structure of a macromolecule of interest can help to understand a large number of chemical and biological processes and diseases, since understanding in atomic detail the chemical and structural alteration of a macromolecule allow us to decipher mechanisms that participate in the chemical or biological process or the one that cause disease and damage in the organism; In addition, the design of drugs for its treatment can be carried out.