March 2025 - ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

cartoon style setting
by junjie han 07 Aug '26

07 Aug '26

Hi, May I ask how I can set the cartoon thick for a specific region of a structure in ChimeraX? For instance, the command "cartoon style #1/A:10-20 thick" plays an effect on the whole #1 molecule, not only affecting the specific region #1/A:10-20. Please let me know what the appropriate command is by any chance. Thanks, Junjie

3 4

An error opening chimerax seesion
by Yehuda Halfon 11 Mar '26

11 Mar '26

Hi all, I'm using chimeraX 0.8 (2018-12-17) on centos 7 (can't remember the build). Sometimes when I load a session that was saved using this version of chimeraX it gives me this error: Unable to restore session, resetting. Traceback (most recent call last): File "/software/graphics/chimerax/lib/python3.6/site-packages/chimerax/core/ session.py", line 593, in restore obj = sm.restore_snapshot(self, data) File "/software/graphics/chimerax/lib/python3.6/site-packages/chimerax/ std_commands/view.py", line 214, in restore_snapshot for k,v in data ['view attrs'].items(): TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable After that I can't open the session again, so I need to remake it. Help, Yehuda Halfon

4 6

ISOLDE and secondary structure restraints
by Guido Hansen 02 Mar '26

02 Mar '26

Hi all, I just started model building in cryoEM maps and get great results using ISOLDE on AlphaFold2-derived initial models. I have a question which is mainly directed to Tristan I guess: Is is possible to use the command line/script to apply secondary structure restraints in ISOLDE? I would like to restrain the initial secondary structure assignment from Alphafold especially at resolution worse than 3.5 A. At the moment I select each and every residue range assigned to helix, parallel or antiparallel beta-strand one after the other and turn on the corresponding restrains in the ISOLDE GUI. Is there a better way via command line of script? Cheers, Guido -- PD Dr. Guido Hansen Group Leader UNIVERSITÄT ZU LÜBECK INSTITUT FÜR BIOCHEMIE Tel +49 451 3101 3122 Fax +49 451 3101 3104 E-Mail hansen(a)biochem.uni-luebeck.de www.biochem.uni-luebeck.de [1] Ratzeburger Allee 160 23562 Lübeck Links: ------ [1] http://www.biochem.uni-luebeck.de

6 9

Volume eraser as cube?
by Oliver Clarke 25 Feb '26

25 Feb '26

Hi all, Hope the chimeraX team & community are having a great start to 2025! There are often situations (in single particle cryo-EM) where I would like to erase using a plane rather than a sphere - e.g., when I want to chop off density protruding from a nanodisc or micelle in order to make a mask. There are various workaround ways to do this (e.g. just making the sphere enormous, making a cubic/rectangular mask and multiplying/substracting, etc), but I was wondering if this is a common enough scenario (perhaps other users can chime in?) that it might be worth adding the option of erasing using a cube rather than a sphere? Cheers Oli

3 2

ChimeraX version 1.9 has been released
by Elaine Meng 23 Jan '26

23 Jan '26

UCSF ChimeraX version 1.9 has been released! ChimeraX includes user documentation and is free for noncommercial use. Download for Windows, Linux, and MacOS from: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/download.html Updates since version 1.8 (June 2024) include: - Foldseek search and analysis of large sets of similar structures - Find Cavities tool and "kvfinder" command to identify pockets and channels in macromolecules - optional residue-level summaries of H-bond and contact calculations - "mutationscores" command for analysis and plotting of results from deep mutational scanning - "surface hidefarblobs" command for colocalization analysis of light microscopy channels - raycasting option for medical images or other maps displayed as transparent volumes - selection can be expanded to all residues associated with the same column(s) in a sequence alignment - protein structure metadata can be updated with full chain sequences - missing-structure pseudobonds are labeled with the number of missing residues (default, can be turned off in preferences) For details, please see the ChimeraX change log: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/wiki/ChangeLog On behalf of the team, Elaine ----- Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D. UCSF Chimera(X) team Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of California, San Francisco

3 4

Focus in ChimeraX
by Luca Pellegrini 10 Oct '25

10 Oct '25

Hi, What is the ChimeraX equivalent to the Focus command in Chimera? I have selected a portion of a structure, and would like to bring it into focus without dragging it into view. Also Focus would automatically set the selection as the pivot point. Best wishes, Luca Luca Pellegrini, PhD Department of Biochemistry University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 1GA lp212(a)cam.ac.uk

4 3

Determining Chirality
by steffen＠sthomas.de 20 Jun '25

20 Jun '25

4 5

Model loops with MODELER in ChimeraX
by Alexandra Zahradnikova 17 Jun '25

17 Jun '25

Hello, I have recently watched a Youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV6jHhxR5T4) about completing loops with Modeller in ChimeraX. However, the structure I want to model is only a part of the actual molecule, and I want to replace one unresolved segment (300 residues long) with 11 glycines. When I upload both, the FASTA file with the sequence as it should look after completion of the loops, and the PDB file of the incomplete structure, I am not able to align them together in order to perform the modelling. - If I use the original PDB file containing the SEQRES part, the association is performed but produces mismatches after the start of the unresolved sequence. - If I use the PDB file without the SEQRES part, I am not able to perform the association. Can anybody help me? Thanks in advance Sasha ________________________________________________________________________ Alexandra Zahradníková, PhD Department of Cell Cardiology Institute of Experimental Endocrinology Biomedical Research Centre SAS Dúbravská cesta 9 845 05 Bratislava Slovakia Mobile: +421 908 069 796

3 6

[ISOLDE] Handling Lys-Asp iso-peptide bonds and D-amino acids
by Yang Lee 22 Apr '25

22 Apr '25

Addressing this to Tristan, in all likelihood. Is there a way of parameterising KD isopeptide bonds and D-amino acids? Perhaps a secret three letter code I can rename the residues to make them play nice? Unfortunately, I'm trying to model a peptide that has both of these exotic elements. Cheers, Yang

3 15

Concatenating trajectories in ChimeraX
by Alexandra Zahradnikova 20 Apr '25

20 Apr '25

Dear All, I am new in molecular simulation and not very much experienced with ChimeraX. I did not find an easy way to concatenate trajectories (in my case, .xtc files from gromacs). Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance Sasha ________________________________________________________________________ Alexandra Zahradníková, PhD Department of Cell Cardiology Institute of Experimental Endocrinology Biomedical Research Centre SAS Dúbravská cesta 9 845 05 Bratislava Slovakia Mobile: +421 908 069 796

4 4