What this resource provides

The Ribosome Analysis Database provides a description of nearly every ribosome structure that is currently available in the RCSB repository (2000 structures as of 2/1/23, with hundreds published per year). The database includes rotation and tilt angles of the small subunit (SSU) for ribosomes from bacteria, archaea and eukarya (cytosolic and mitochondrial ribosomes). In addition, organism and citation information is aggregated from RCSB. A listing of isolated large subunit (LSU) structures and alignment information is also provided. All evaluated quantities provided in this resource were generated using the open-source software called RADtool, which is a plugin for VMD that allows for analysis and visualization of ribosomes from all domains of life.

How to use this resource

There are several ways to utilize the Ribosome Analysis Database. For some example workflows, see the Usage Examples page. The examples walk through the three main mechanisms for using the resource, which are:

• Download RADtool: analyze and visualize/animate ribosome structures (LSU and SSU, SSU-only or LSU-only) on your own machine
• Access the webtools: query the database and quickly compare the orientations of ribosome structures (published, or pre-publication)
• Download the database: download, parse and process the full database of structures. This is a regularly-updated analysis of all structures available in RCSB.

Stay up to date

Want to know when a new ribosome structure is available on RCSB? We have an automated server that checks RCSB on a daily basis and reports any new ribosome structures that can be described by the RADtool software. If you would like to receive notification every time a new ribosome structure has been released by RCSB and identified with RAD, sign up for the rad-announcements list.

We hope this resource is useful to ribosome researchers, as well as anyone who would like to learn more about ribosome structure. Since the database and RADtool are provided to benefit the scientific community, we always welcome suggestions on how to expand and improve their utility.

Page created and maintained by the Whitford Group at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Northeastern University.