- ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

Re: issues with writing models as pdb files
by arangarajan＠initialtx.com 08 Apr '25

08 Apr '25

Hi everyone, I noticed that sometimes when i write pdb of one model or a selection , it does not open in other programs.( MOE,Pymol). One of the errors i noticed recently was that th pdb file was written as a multi model pdb file ( each of the 70 residues in the protein were separate models) , i cleaned it using notepad++ by removing the model lines and it was opening correctly. i was told that it might be related to using split command. i use split often and it might be the case. can some one please explain how using split can lead to this? and if so what is best way to fix it? should i perhaps run some version of combine command on the model prior to writing it out as pdb file. thanks again, best amith

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Can't open ChimeraX on my Win11
by kangkang042＠126.com 07 Apr '25

07 Apr '25

About 2 weeks ago, it worked fine. Today when I click the ChimeraX startup, nothing happened. I reinstalled the lastest version v1.9, nothing changed. Run ChimeraX-console.exe in cmd, it shows these information: NOTE: Traceback (most recent call last): File "<frozen runpy>", line 198, in _run_module_as_main File "<frozen runpy>", line 88, in _run_code File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\core\\__main__.py", line 1217, in <module> exit_code = init(sys.argv) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\core\\__main__.py", line 653, in init sess = session.Session( ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\core\session.py", line 551, in __init__ from chimerax.graphics.gsession import register_graphics_session_save File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\graphics\\__init__.py", line 37, in <module> import chimerax.arrays File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\arrays\\__init__.py", line 24, in <module> from ._pyarrays import get_lib, get_include, load_libarrays File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\arrays\\_pyarrays.py", line 40, in <module> from . import _arrays ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _arrays: 找不到指定的模块。 BUG: ImportError: DLL load failed while importing _arrays: 找不到指定的模块。 File "E:\chimeraX\installation\bin\Lib\site- packages\chimerax\arrays\\_pyarrays.py", line 40, in from . import _arrays _See log for complete Python traceback._ My PC: Win11 Pro Workstation 26100.3624

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How to browse inspect ligands?
by Guillaume Gaullier 04 Apr '25

04 Apr '25

Hello ChimeraX team, These days I look a lot a structures of photosystems, which contain large numbers of ligands: chlorophylls, carotenoids, etc. each by the dozens, adding up easily to more than 100 ligands. Is there any tool to browse through all ligands systematically? Ideally something similar to the sequence viewer, but for ligands. Or a way to generate a list with chain IDs and "residue" numbers reported, and clicking rows in the list would select the corresponding ligand. I looked for something like this, but couldn't find anything. Thank you in advance, Guillaume När du har kontakt med oss på Uppsala universitet med e-post så innebär det att vi behandlar dina personuppgifter. För att läsa mer om hur vi gör det kan du läsa här: http://www.uu.se/om-uu/dataskydd-personuppgifter/ E-mailing Uppsala University means that we will process your personal data. For more information on how this is performed, please read here: http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/data-protection-policy

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saving cloned structures on chimerax inquiry
by Joel Gallardo 03 Apr '25

03 Apr '25

to whom it may concern, i have mapped out a mol2file onto a structure found in a .mrc file. and then i ran this command to multiply the mol2 structure: sym #2 h,0.357979,132.83196,72,-40 coord #1 center 119.04,119.04,119.04 it multiplied it as intended which is good but now i want to save those multiplied mol2 files into a sperate mol2 files. i tried this command: save multiplied_structures.mol2 format mol2 models #2 but this only saves a single mol2 structure into the new mol2 file. i want all 72 molecules in one mol2 file. can you give me some advice as to how i may be able to do this? my ultimate goal is to take that mol2 file and do an md simulation. Best, Joel Gallardo (Graduate student in chemistry)

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Keeping track of H-bonds in trajectories
by Alexandra Zahradnikova 02 Apr '25

02 Apr '25

Hello, I am new in molecular simulation and not very much experienced with ChimeraX. Is there a way to keep track of H-bonds between two specific residues (they can form one or more H-bonds) during the course of the trajectories (in my case, .xtc files from gromacs)? 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

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Create new attributes
by javisanchezdelrio＠gmail.com 31 Mar '25

31 Mar '25

Hello! I am trying to create a new attribute in a cif file called align_rmsd. For the example, assume I want all atoms to have this attribute equal to 5. For this, I am opening the file in ChimeraX and applying the following command: setattr atoms align_rmsd 5.0 create true type float With the following result: Assigning align_rmsd attribute to 145 items However, when I do "save new.cif" I don't see any new attribute in the loop _atom_site.align_rmsd nor any value equal to 5. How can I store this values in a new cif file so that I see the values equal to 5? Thank you in advance! Javier

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Downloading ISOLDE
by Ashley Gutierrez 28 Mar '25

28 Mar '25

Hi there, I am having a bit trouble downloading the ISOLDE bundle. While I can download the .whl to my computer, it will not open in ChimeraX. Please let me know if I am missing some commands in between, I am new to this system. Thank you (:

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Ligand flying movie in chimeraX
by Matzov Donna 26 Mar '25

26 Mar '25

Hello, I'm trying to create a movie in Chimerax similar to the "Ligand flying into unbound conformation" that was in the old Chimera movie tutorials (https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/data/tutorials/movies08/moviemaking.html) I tried using the "reset" command, but it seems like it doesn't exist in ChimeraX. Is there a command that replaces it? Alternatively, I would be happy for any suggestion for how to get an effect similar to the flying ligand in ChimeraX. Thanks, Donna Donna Matzov, PhD Department of Structural Biology Weizmann Institute of Science The Shalev-Benami Lab<https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Structural_Biology/Shalev-Benami/home>

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Change location of .cache/ChimeraX ?
by James Vincent 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Hello ChimeraX Devs/Users, Is there a way to specify the location of the .cache/ChimeraX directory? As far as I can tell it is always $HOME/.cache/ChimeraX (on Linux machines). I see no options or configs to change this. We are installing ChimeraX on a multiuser system and would like to add a plugin/ bundle to be available for all users ( ChimeraX_ScipionExtensions 1.3). Perhaps I missed this in the documentation, but is there a standard way to add plugins so that they are available for all users? Thanks, Jim

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Force display of helix with setattr
by Kevin M Jude 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

For some reason the selected residues in this image are not displayed as a helix in ChimeraX. I think the command to force it woud be ‘setattr sel res ss_type 1’, but nothing changes (the log says “Assigning ss_type attribute to 2 items”). Same result if I try ‘setattr sel res is_helix 1’. Can anybody please set me straight (and my cartoons helical)? Using ChimeraX 1.9 for OS X. Thanks for any help. [cid:image001.png@01DB9CD2.E2CD6B60] -- Kevin Jude, PhD Structural Biology Research Specialist, Garcia Lab Howard Hughes Medical Institute Stanford University School of Medicine Beckman B177, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford CA 94305

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Inactivate models
by Burgers, Peter 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Dear team, Classic Chimera had a command to turn off specific models, allowing manipulation of the other model(s). What is the command for that in ChimeraX? ChatGPT gave as answer “model toggle off #1” but that appears to be wrong. Thank you, Peter ---------------------------------- Peter M.J. Burgers Marvin Brennecke Professor of Biological Chemistry Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Washington University School of Medicine BOX 8231 660 South Euclid Saint Louis, MO 63110 E-Mail: burgers(a)wustl.edu<applewebdata://1B940EF6-0122-4328-902B-DCB358A99492/burgers@biochem.wustl.edu> PH (314) 362-3872 (office) 286-2554 (lab) FAX (314) 362-7183 http://biochem.wustl.edu/~burgersw3/ ________________________________ The materials in this message are private and may contain Protected Healthcare Information or other information of a sensitive nature. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone or return mail.

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Problem with setting up Modeller
by Miloslav Radoslavov 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Greetings, I encountered an issue when attempting to utilize the "Model Loops" option. After installing Modeller and specifying the path to it, Chimera X did not prompt me to input my activation key. Instead, it indicated that no Modeller key was provided. Also the console command "modeller licenseKey ...." does not seem to work. Could someone please assist me in resolving this issue? Is there an alternative method to input my key? Thank you in advance, M. Radoslavov

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Error using matchmaker
by javisanchezdelrio＠gmail.com 23 Mar '25

23 Mar '25

Hello, I am trying to use matchmaker command (matchmaker #1 to #2 showAlignment true) with two cif files I've obtained from Kihara and Modelangelo. The problem is that, once I try to use the matchmaker command, I obtain the following error: "No matrix compatible with both reference structure and all match structures" and I don't know what is failing. Is it because the two structures are too different from each other? I hope I can get more information about this error message Thank you in advance, Javier

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ChimeraX 1.9 dark theme
by jinlun_kylian zhang 22 Mar '25

22 Mar '25

Hi chimeraX developers, I've used chimeraX for a long time and today I upgraded it to 1.9, But i can't help to notice the chimeraX's theme has been set to dark rather light/white theme in 1.8. Can you please assist me to modify this dark theme back to white? I am more used to that. [image: image.png] Best, kylian

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Switch Dark theme of chimeraX1.9 back to white theme
by hytxnt123＠gmail.com 22 Mar '25

22 Mar '25

Hi, I just upgrade my chimeraX to v1.9 but I dont really fit in the dark theme. Can anyone help me to switch back to the white theme just like v1.8?

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Advice on Meeting settings
by Edwin Kyi 20 Mar '25

20 Mar '25

Hello, We have been experimenting with the Meeting command in VR and are seeing some real uses for guided teaching sessions. We're looking for ways to finesse set up for these sessions and I wonder if you could help with some technical questions we have: 1. What main optimisations of the settings would you recommend for smoother running in VR? 2. Is there an easy way to toggle off all people's interactions with the model with one command except the host? 3. Same as Q2, is there an easier way to toggle off people's hands unless they are the ones asking a question? 4. Can the VR ava VR be resized ie. smaller? Kind regards Edd Edwin Kyi Multimedia Learning Experiences Developer (CTL) Join the VR Society, see: https://www.guildofstudents.com/organisation/ubvr/ +44 121 415 9049 University of Birmingham Collaborative Teaching Laboratory (CTL) Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT www.birmingham.ac.uk<http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/> Twitter<https://twitter.com/unibirmingham> / Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/unibirmingham/> / Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/unibirmingham> / LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-birmingham/> [University of Birmingham logo.]<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/index.aspx> For the most up-to-date-information, visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk<http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/>

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ChimeraX not communicating with GPU
by #TAN YONG JUN EDDIE# 20 Mar '25

20 Mar '25

Dear Developers, Hope this email finds you well. I have encounter an issue regarding the GPU driver usage for chimeraX. The issue is that the model and density movement is very choppy at step size 1, with a box size of 400. Here are some information on the software that I am using. Downloaded Software: Ubuntu 22.04 (Linux) ucsf-chimerax_1.9ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb<https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/cgi-bin/secure/chimerax-get.py?file=1.9/u…> This is my current nvidia driver and cuda version: NVIDIA-SMI 560.35.05 Driver Version: 560.35.05 CUDA Version: 12.6 It came to my attention that it is not utilising GPU upon running "graphics driver" on chimeraX, which outputs: graphics driver OpenGL version: 4.5 (Core Profile) Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3 OpenGL renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7, 256 bits) OpenGL vendor: Mesa additionally, it is not showing up under nvidia-smi when I am running the program. Is there any solutions to this issue? Thank you in advance. Regards, Eddie

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Protein-Protein Interaction Prediction
by Charity Conlin 19 Mar '25

19 Mar '25

Hello, I am trying to use ChimeraX to predict the interaction of 2 proteins using alphafold: Beta-Lactoglobulin and Lactoferrin. I have plugged the 2 protein sequences into the alphafold tool to try to predict the interaction, but I get a failure code in google colab. I am wondering how I can get around this? I think it is because the wrong versions of numpy and colab are installed during the program. Thanks, Charity [cid:b73a7660-3878-48cf-87d5-ddcd6ab388c2]

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Poor performance on Ubuntu w/ discrete graphics vs basic b laptop
by ben 19 Mar '25

19 Mar '25

I'm looking for trouble shooting tips on poor graphics performance on linux. I have read through the FAQ's and done a basic search of the chimera list. Observed: Symptom: Prohibitively slow rendering when just rotating a map, especially if a model is loaded as well. When using Isolde (and presumably anything with clipper) performance is more "normal" as only a small portion of the map is displayed. System: This is observed on Ubuntu distros (both 20.04 22.04) with their respective Chimerax packages, tested versions 1.6.1 and 1.9. Nvidia drivers installed via the cuda toolkit (535.183.01 CUDA Version: 12.2 ) GPUs are either rtx 3090 or 4090s Point of reference: Performance is compared to my relatively very underpowered Windows thinkpad w/o discreet graphics. Thanks for any pointers to resources! Ben Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.

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Issue with crashing after mac upgrade to Sequoia
by Lee, Juliet A. 19 Mar '25

19 Mar '25

Hello! I recently updated my Mac (M2) to Sequoia 15.3.2, and I have had a specific issue in ChimeraX since then (though I cannot be 100% positive the two things are linked). Basically - whenever I try to save (anything) in ChimeraX, the application stops responding and I have to quit it. I downloaded the newest version 1.9 of ChimeraX as well as the daily build version - but this problem persists. I read about issues with the graphics driver - but these seem to be limited to Intel chips... Hoping you might have some insight as to why this is occurring, thank you!!! Sincerely, Juliet

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secondary structures
by Bajaj, Ruchika 18 Mar '25

18 Mar '25

Hi I want to determine helices and betasheet and their ranges in a structure. Could you please let me know which command and its usage I can use to get it. Please let me know. Thanks !! Regards Ruchika

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Request for Review of Figure 12 instructions
by Zeenat Bashir 18 Mar '25

18 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX Developers, I hope this email finds you well! I am developing a hands-on module for students using ChimeraX, and I want to express my appreciation for this powerful and beautifully designed tool. I would like to request a review of the instructions on page 11 for generating Figure 12. I have successfully generated this figure before and am now attempting to do so using ChimeraX. However, I would appreciate your guidance to ensure the accuracy and clarity of the instructions (I have highlighted it in red) Thank you for your time and support! I look forward to your feedback. Best Regards, Zeenat -- *Dr. Zeenat Bashir* *Senior Lecturer* *Biotechnology Lab Coordinator* *Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering* *University of Pennsylvania* *310 Towne Building* *220 S. 33rd Street* *Philadelphia, 19104 -6393* bashirz(a)seas.upenn.edu

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sybyl vs amber atom types in ChimeraX
by laurene.jacquot 17 Mar '25

17 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX community, I hope this message finds you well. I am a master student currently working on a project where I need to generate a mol2 file with amber atom types for a protein. Chimera does not manage to parametrize my protein at all, which is why I switched to ChimeraX. ChimeraX does manage to generate a mol2 file, but it writes sybyl atom types. Despite looking on forums, I have not found a feature like in Chimera to write amber atom types instead. I was wondering if such a feature exists in ChimeraX ? Thanks in advance, Best, Laurène Jacquot PSL University, ChimieParisTech

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Automating the process of data generation via ChimeraX
by mishra.ananya.163＠gmail.com 17 Mar '25

17 Mar '25

Dear Sir/Madam, I am an undergraduate student working on a project and I am trying to generate values for the solvent accessible surface area, mean molecular lipophilicity potential and mean surface electrostatic potential for a dataset involving protein 3D structures (in pdb format). We also plan to introduce point mutations via ChimeraX using the swapaa command and measure the same values for the mutated proteins. As such, we were wondering if there is a way to automate this process of generating the values for each protein, without having to manually do it. We tried to test out some code to see if it is possible to run a python file in ChimeraX. This was the code we wrote: import chimerax import csv import os from chimerax.core.commands import run run(session, "open" + r'C:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\P35579_MYH9.pdb') run(session, "color red") run("surf") However, we received this error message: openC:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\P35579_MYH9.pdb Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\test_import.py", line 6, in <module> run(session, "open" + r'C:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\P35579_MYH9.pdb') File "C:\Program Files\ChimeraX 1.8\bin\Lib\site-packages\chimerax\core\commands\run.py", line 49, in run results = command.run(text, log=log, return_json=return_json) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "C:\Program Files\ChimeraX 1.8\bin\Lib\site-packages\chimerax\core\commands\cli.py", line 3156, in run raise UserError(self._error) chimerax.core.errors.UserError: Unknown command: openC:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\P35579_MYH9.pdb Error opening python file C:\Users\anany\Downloads\Research\Test_PDB_Passenger\test_import.py We would appreciate your kind assistance! Thank you!

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Feature request alphafold: return selection when dragging in PAE plot
by Vorländer,Matthias Kopano 17 Mar '25

17 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX team, I love the alphafold tools in ChimeraX, and have a small suggestion to make it even better. Currently, when associating a PAE plot from a JSON file, you can drag the mouse in the PAE plot to color the corresponding residues (magenta and lime), but the residues do not become selected (although the color command gets printed in the log). I think it would be helpful if there was an option (or default behavior) to return a selection in addition, so that the selected region could be saved as a named selection, the display style changed ect… Or am I missing anything? Many thanks in advance, Matthias

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Fwd: Re: coloring surfaces by electrostatic potential from different atoms
by Boaz Shaanan 16 Mar '25

16 Mar '25

Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Life Sciences Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva, Israel ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Boaz Shaanan <bshaanan(a)bgu.ac.il> Date: Mar 16, 2025 18:32 Subject: Re: coloring surfaces by electrostatic potential from different atoms To: ChimeraX Users Help <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> Cc: Hi Elaine, Thank you so much for the prompt an informative reply. The points about the offset and dielectric are very relevant. In fact, in a quick test that I ran before posing the question I noticed that the coloring of the electrostatic potential on the cofactor was quie dim, probably because of those parameters. I'll also look into the MOLE and pseudo atom coloring. Thanks again. Boaz Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Life Sciences Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva, Israel On Mar 16, 2025 17:50, Elaine Meng <meng(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote: Hi Boaz, I changed the subject line to try to describe this topic. We aren't the APBS experts but my understanding is that yes, it will generate potential at all points in the rectangular grid, based on the input atoms charges and locations. There will of course be potential values even at grid points where there are no atoms, since electrostatics are fairly long-range interactions. However, the magnitude will depend on what dielectric parameters you have given the calculation. Whether it makes sense: that is somewhat up to your scientific judgement. In my opinion, yes, it makes sense, but you have to think carefully about the "offset" you use to color the cofactor surface. Normally when the surface is on the same atoms that produced the charge, you use a positive offset (default 1.4) to color by values projected that distance outward from the surface, to represent what other outside atoms might "see". If you are coloring a surface of the cofactor atoms to try to understand the potential from the protein that the cofactor "sees," you should consider instead using a negative (say -1.4) or zero offset. The offset is adjustable in the Surface Color dialog options and the "color electrostatic" command: <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r02/___https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/doc…> <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r02/___https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/doc…> Note that an analogous procedure could be done in ChimeraX with the Coulombic electrostatic potential. For example, see the MOLE channels tutorial where we calculate the Coulombic potential from the protein but then show a surface on pseudoatoms representing a channel calculated by MOLEonline, and then color that channel surface by the protein potential. <https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r02/___https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax…> I hope this helps, 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 > On Mar 15, 2025, at 10:30 AM, Boaz Shaanan via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote: > > Hi friends, > On a related issue: > I'd like to explore the effect of replacing Val by Asp on the electrostatic potential 'seen' by a cofactor which is completely surrounded by the protein (this is relevant for understanding the change in reaction rate following such replacement). I thought of the following steps: > > • Omit the cofactor from the pdb2pqr and APBS. > • Read into chimerax the complete pdb (i.e. including the cofactor). > • Generate the surfaces (protein and cofactor). > • Render the electrostatic potential on both surfaces (i.e. Cofactor and protein surrounding it) and probe the potential on the cofactor. > • Does it make sense? Does APBS generate potential values in the void where the cofactor resides even though it wasn't present in the input pdb2pqr (i.e. in the void where the cofactor resides). > I'd appreciate your input. > Boaz >

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Re: ChimeraX-users Digest, Vol 99, Issue 28
by Boaz Shaanan 16 Mar '25

16 Mar '25

Hi friends, On a related issue: I'd like to explore the effect of replacing Val by Asp on the electrostatic potential 'seen' by a cofactor which is completely surrounded by the protein (this is relevant for understanding the change in reaction rate following such replacement). I thought of the following steps: 1. Omit the cofactor from the pdb2pqr and APBS. 2. Read into chimerax the complete pdb (i.e. including the cofactor). 3. Generate the surfaces (protein and cofactor). 4. Render the electrostatic potential on both surfaces (i.e. Cofactor and protein surrounding it) and probe the potential on the cofactor. 5. Does it make sense? Does APBS generate potential values in the void where the cofactor resides even though it wasn't present in the input pdb2pqr (i.e. in the void where the cofactor resides). I'd appreciate your input. Boaz Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Life Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva 84105 Israel E-mail: bshaanan(a)bgu.ac.il ________________________________ From: chimerax-users-request(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <chimerax-users-request(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> Sent: Friday, 14 March 2025 21:00 To: chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> Subject: ChimeraX-users Digest, Vol 99, Issue 28 Send ChimeraX-users mailing list submissions to chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to chimerax-users-request(a)cgl.ucsf.edu You can reach the person managing the list at chimerax-users-owner(a)cgl.ucsf.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ChimeraX-users digest..." Today's Topics: 1. sybyl vs amber atom types in ChimeraX (laurene.jacquot) 2. Re: sybyl vs amber atom types in ChimeraX (David A Case) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2025 09:47:39 +0000 From: "laurene.jacquot" <laurene.jacquot(a)etu.chimieparistech.psl.eu> Subject: [chimerax-users] sybyl vs amber atom types in ChimeraX To: "chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu" <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> Message-ID: <MR1P264MB2612AFE1D7D6BEF80D0B069A92D22(a)MR1P264MB2612.FRA P264.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="_000_MR1P264MB2612AF E1D7D6BEF80D0B069A92D22MR1P264MB2612FRAP_" Dear ChimeraX community, I hope this message finds you well. I am a master student currently working on a project where I need to generate a mol2 file with amber atom types for a protein. Chimera does not manage to parametrize my protein at all, which is why I switched to ChimeraX. ChimeraX does manage to generate a mol2 file, but it writes sybyl atom types. Despite looking on forums, I have not found a feature like in Chimera to write amber atom types instead. I was wondering if such a feature exists in ChimeraX ? Thanks in advance, Best, Laurène Jacquot PSL University, ChimieParisTech -------------- next part -------------- A message part incompatible with plain text digests has been removed ... Name: not available Type: text/html Size: 3823 bytes Desc: not available ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2025 09:08:36 -0600 From: David A Case <dacase1(a)gmail.com> Subject: [chimerax-users] Re: sybyl vs amber atom types in ChimeraX To: "laurene.jacquot" <laurene.jacquot(a)etu.chimieparistech.psl.eu>, chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu Message-ID: <20250314150836.x2iskz4ufcygpsqt(a)pop-os.localdomain> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed On Fri, Mar 14, 2025, laurene.jacquot via ChimeraX-users wrote: > >I am a master student currently working on a project where I need to >generate a mol2 file with amber atom types for a protein. I don't have a ChimeraX answer here, but rather a question: why do you need a protein mol2 file with Amber atom types? Amber workflows would not create a mol2 file for an entire protein; but of course, you may need such a file for some other purpose. If so, we may be able to find some Amber tools that does this (or avoids needing it), if the ChimeraX folks themselves don't have a solution. ....dave case ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ChimeraX-users mailing list -- chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu To unsubscribe send an email to chimerax-users-leave(a)cgl.ucsf.edu Archives: https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r02/___https://mail.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/… ------------------------------ End of ChimeraX-users Digest, Vol 99, Issue 28 **********************************************

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Ubuntu 24 ARM Daily Builds
by Zach Pearson 15 Mar '25

15 Mar '25

ARM daily builds for Ubuntu 24.04 are now available. — Zach

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Feature suggestion: cubic interpolation for image display
by Ricardo Righetto 14 Mar '25

14 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX team, (I have a vague memory of discussing this before, apologies if duplicate!) When displaying volumes as images (e.g. cryo-ET volume slices), I see that by default it uses linear interpolation: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/volume.html#style Would it be possible to offer higher-order interpolation options such as cubic? I love how customizable it is to make figures in ChimeraX, but this is the one feature that we really miss compared e.g. to 3dmod from IMOD. Thank you! -- Ricardo Diogo Righetto

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Dockprep Inquiry
by Emir MALOVIC 13 Mar '25

13 Mar '25

Hello, I am trying to perform some simple docking between a small molecule and a protein. I get the following warning: (UNL) `bash.exe: warning: could not find /tmp, please create!` I was browsing around and noticed I may need to set up ChimeraX Development Environment. Is this true? Thank you, Emir

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ISOLDE refine.eff and phenix.refine
by Shawn Rumrill 13 Mar '25

13 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX Community, Not strictly ChimeraX related, but probably interesting to some and I've seen some feedback for ISOLDE here... I am using ISOLDE to rebuild a mid-resolution protein/NA model (still adjusting to using ISOLDE, but really powerful tool). I want to refine using phenix.refine, but I am running into a problem with the refine.eff file. The error from the terminal output is below. I've gathered that this is due to a change in parameter terminology from Phenix 1.20 to 1.21. My question is, is there some way to write the refine.eff file with the required information? I would hate to have to manually edit the .eff output file each time I want to run a new refinement in Phenix. Thanks, Shawn Error: Processing files: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Found phil, refine.eff Processing PHIL parameters: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adding PHIL files: ------------------ refine.eff Unrecognized PHIL parameters: ----------------------------- refinement.input.pdb.file_name (file "refine.eff", line 6) refinement.input.xray_data.file_name (file "refine.eff", line 9) refinement.input.xray_data.labels (file "refine.eff", line 10) refinement.input.xray_data.high_resolution (file "refine.eff", line 11) refinement.input.xray_data.low_resolution (file "refine.eff", line 12) refinement.input.xray_data.r_free_flags.file_name (file "refine.eff", line 14) refinement.input.xray_data.r_free_flags.label (file "refine.eff", line 15) refinement.input.xray_data.r_free_flags.test_flag_value (file "refine.eff", line 16) Sorry: Some PHIL parameters are not recognized by phenix.refine. Please run this program with the --show-defaults option to see what parameters are available. PHIL parameters in files should be fully specified (e.g. "output.overwrite" instead of just "overwrite")

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Re: Inquiry to docking protein onto lipid bilayer
by You, Youngki 12 Mar '25

12 Mar '25

Hello Tommy, You can use this server (PPM in OPM site), https://opm.phar.umich.edu/ppm_server3_cgopm , to determine the orientation and depth of your protein in the membranes. After that, you can use the model from PPM in CHARMM-GUI. Best, Youngki ________________________________PNNL__ Youngki You, PhD Post Doctorate RA, Biochemical Mechanisms Structure, Function & Design Biological Sciences Division Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Tel: +1 (509) 371-6660

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Inquiry to docking protein onto lipid bilayer
by Tommy Tong 12 Mar '25

12 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX experts, Good afternoon. My name is Tommy from San Diego Biomed. I am a beginner to ChimeraX version 1.9. May I ask if it is possible to use ChimeraX to dock a membrane protein into a lipid bilayer? I obtained Phosphotidylcholine bilayer (POPC) structure from CHARMM-GUI webpage https://charmm-gui.org/?doc=archive&lib=lipid_pure, and was wondering if it is possible to “place” a protein into this POPC structure in ChimeraX. Your help and advice on this is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely, Tommy

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Obtain individual RMSD values
by javisanchezdelrio＠gmail.com 12 Mar '25

12 Mar '25

Hello, I have an issue when applying matchmaker command in ChimeraX. When I execute the command: matchmaker #1 to #2 showAlignment true I obtain the alignment with the bars in the upper layer showing the individual RMSD of each residue. But the results yields the overall RMSD of the alignment (i.e. RMSD between 108 pruned atoms). Is there any way to obtain those individual RMSDs of the alignment as a file or have them printed in the log for post-processing? Thank you in advance

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Dividing a huge model (& map) into smaller chunks
by Alejandro Buschiazzo 12 Mar '25

12 Mar '25

Dear chimeraX developers/users Using version 1.9, I am trying to divide a very big mmcif model (230K + nonH atoms; >130 chains) and corresponding mrc map, into a number of smaller mmcif files (and corresponding cropped maps, covering just those parts). What I’ve tried so far unsuccessfully: I can create dummy atoms with build start atom, at desired x,y,z points, so that I can then use select zone to select a radius and keep parts near each dummy atom. Yet, that is suboptimal: I would largely prefer to keep (build) boxes, and not spheres, ensuring complete recovery and no blind spots. So that each box slightly overlaps with the neighboring one, and systematically covers the whole original map volume. 1. How can I generate a script that will do this "systematic windowing” screening, making boxes of a defined side-length at each step, and keeping the model within? 2. How should I then crop the original map, so that it covers each box (with a small padding on the borders)? 3. How should I stitch back the models, so that I don’t loose any atomic coordinates information? (of course that stitching will be done after I do some refinement work on each boxed model vs map) So sorry for the many questions! I’ve been trying hard to find this kind of strategy, and just can’t seem to succeed…. Thank you very much in advance Alejandro -- Alejandro Buschiazzo, PhD Associate Professor Laboratory of Molecular & Structural Microbiology Institut Pasteur de Montevideo Mataojo 2020 Montevideo 11400 URUGUAY Phone: +598 25220910 ext. 120 Fax: +598 25224185 https://pasteur.uy/en/laboratories/molecular-and-structural-microbiology/

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General ?s - Foldseek (Sequence Plot) and Similar Structures Table
by Emir MALOVIC 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

Hello, Quick question: When I load the sequence plot, I receive 2 sequence images separated by a very large black space. When I save the image as a PNG, the black space between the sequence images is retained. Basically, the image is mostly black space. Is there a way to change that or is this a bug? Am I able to somehow copy the Similar Structures table or export it into Excel? A copy/paste function would be ideal and quick. I am using the Chimera 1.10 dev. Please let me know at your earliest convenience! Thank you, Emir

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Suggestion for improvement
by James Raymond 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

I love ChimeraX and use it often for my work, e.g. this one <https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421910122>. When using AlphaFold to predict protein structure, the sequence is pasted into the sequence box. It does not allow entering the fasta name ">name" before the sequence.. Allowing a name to be included can avoid much confusion. Presently, the screen shows the output as "best_model" which becomes very confusing when several best models are shown on the screen. James Raymond Univ. Nevada Las Vegas

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What is the .exe file for ChimeraX Toolbox?
by m.i.bashir＠bham.ac.uk 11 Mar '25

11 Mar '25

Hi all, First time posting here. I'm looking to find the name and location of the file/folder that manages the ChimeraX in-app browser. The way I launch the browser is to go to 'tools' in the top bar, then press 'more tools', and then it brings up the ChimeraX Toolshed Where is the .exe file that controls this in app browser? I am attempting to find the .exe file and black list it, so we can use ChimeraX for an exam Thanks,

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SASA in MDS
by Gabriel López Velázquez 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

Dear Elaine, I am sorry; I did not state the subject of my previous email. I would ask for help. How can I calculate SASA as a function of time from the MD simulations in Chimerax? What archives need to perform it? Thanks in advance! Gabriel.

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(no subject)
by Gabriel López Velázquez 10 Mar '25

10 Mar '25

Dear Elaine, I would ask for help. How can I calculate SASA as a function of time from the MD simulations in Chimerax? What archives need to perform it? Thanks in advance! Gabriel.

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Inquiry About Favorable Contacts and Display Methods in ChimeraX
by 田畑　健士郎 07 Mar '25

07 Mar '25

Subject: Inquiry About Favorable Contacts and Display Methods in ChimeraX Dear ChimeraX Developers, My name is Kenshiro Tabata. I hope this email finds you well. I am currently using ChimeraX to analyze the effects of point mutations on protein structure, particularly in cases where a larger side chain (e.g., methionine) is replaced by a smaller one (e.g., valine). In such cases, I expect that interactions with the opposing amino acids may be reduced due to the decreased side-chain volume. To investigate this, I would like to ask for your guidance regarding the interpretation and visualization of favorable contacts. ________________________________ 1) Understanding Favorable Contacts I understand that the contacts command identifies all types of interactions, whereas the clashes command detects only unfavorable interactions. Based on this, I interpreted the positive VDW overlap as indicating unfavorable (repulsive) interactions, while an overlap between 0 and -0.4 represents favorable (attractive) interactions. Could you confirm if this understanding is correct? ________________________________ 2) Best Approach for Displaying Only Favorable Contacts To analyze how the mutation affects interactions, I would like to display only favorable contacts. Below is the approach I have considered: Proposed Approach 1. Retrieve all interactions (favorable, neutral, and unfavorable) using the contacts command contacts overlapCutoff -0.4 saveFile all_contacts.txt 2. Retrieve only neutral and unfavorable interactions contacts overlapCutoff 0 saveFile non_favorable_contacts.txt 3. Compute the difference between these two sets using Python, extract only favorable contacts, and format them into a ChimeraX pseudobond file # File paths all_contacts_path = "all_contacts.txt" non_favorable_contacts_path = "non_favorable_contacts.txt" favorable_contacts_path = "favorable_contacts.pb" # Read files with open(all_contacts_path, "r") as f: all_contacts = set(f.readlines()) with open(non_favorable_contacts_path, "r") as f: non_favorable_contacts = set(f.readlines()) # Extract favorable contacts favorable_contacts = all_contacts - non_favorable_contacts # Convert to ChimeraX pseudobond file format with open(favorable_contacts_path, "w") as f: f.write("; Pseudobond file for favorable contacts\n") f.write("; radius = 0.1\n; color = green\n; dashes = 6\n") for line in favorable_contacts: parts = line.strip().split() if len(parts) >= 4: atom1 = f"/{parts[0]}:{parts[1]}@{parts[2]}" atom2 = f"/{parts[3]}:{parts[4]}@{parts[5]}" f.write(f"{atom1} {atom2}\n") 4. Load the extracted favorable contacts into ChimeraX for visualization open favorable_contacts.pb Would this be an appropriate approach? Alternatively, is there a simpler or more precise way to achieve this in ChimeraX? I appreciate your time and assistance, and I look forward to your advice. Best regards, Kenshiro Tabata

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AI in ChimeraX
by Elaine Meng 07 Mar '25

07 Mar '25

On Mar 7, 2025, at 6:01 AM, Veach, Kevin G. <kevin.veach(a)uky.edu> wrote: > > Hi Elaine: > Does Chimera-X use Artificial Intelligence or Large Language Learning Models? > Thank you, > > Kevin > Kevin Veach, Computer Support Specialist II > University of Kentucky, Animal & Food Sciences Dept. Hi Kevin, Please use the chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> address CC'd here for general questions about ChimeraX -- I'm not the top expert on all parts of ChimeraX, so you may get better answers from other developers or our user community. Regarding your question, my understanding is that ChimeraX itself does not use these kinds of calculations, but it has tools that interface to web services or other calculations (run outside of ChimeraX) that do use them. The ones that I can think of are AlphaFold/ColabFold and ESMFold: <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/tools/alphafold.html> <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/tools/alphafold.html#predict> <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/tools/esmfold.html> <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/tools/esmfold.html#predict> I hope this helps, 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

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Creating movie in ChimeraX from YASARA simulation
by ibogdanov 07 Mar '25

07 Mar '25

Hi ! I have the following question - How can I create a movie, when I cannot use the YASARA.sce file from which I converted/extracted xtc.file(the trajectories) when I have all the snapshots(pdb and sim.files) created as separate files during the performed simulation in YASARA...I've uploaded for example the first pdb file of the series and the xtc.file but isn't the saved xtc.file(trajectories) of the whole simulation(for all the structures)? How would you suggest me to solve this problem, if ChimeraX doesn't support sce.files ? Thank you in advance! Kind Regards, Ivan Bogdanov

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Problem installing on OSX
by Thom Hughes 06 Mar '25

06 Mar '25

I apologize for the dumb question, but here it is. I want to install the isolde extension. When I go to more tools, isolde, and click the install button a .whl file downloads correctly. But then nothing happens. I’m running OSX 15.3.1. thanks in advance for any pointers!

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Unable to open the file after downloading ChimeraX
by Guo-Ping Zhou 05 Mar '25

05 Mar '25

Dear Sir/Madam, After downloading ChimeraX, I automatically get the attached .png in the application as a microsoft word file. However, I can't open the Quick Access Toolbar. Could you please tell me how to make it work? Thanks! Guo-Ping Zhou, Rocky Mount Life Sciences Institute, Rocky Mount, NC 27804

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(no subject)
by FRANGIE Christian 05 Mar '25

05 Mar '25

Dear UCSF ChimeraX Support Team, My name is Christian frangieh, I am currently using Chimera X to visualize my AlphaFold simulations, and I want to check when i introduce a mutation and change one residue (amino acid), whether there is a change in the surface accessibility of the residue. Currenlty i am checking this visually by checking whether the residue is exposed to the surface or hidden. Nevertheless, i would like to know how can i do this with a command or by some form of calculation or structural analysis. Can you please help me with this matter? Warm Regards, Christian

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Can not find Structure Minimization in ChimeraX menu
by N.B. Nugroho 04 Mar '25

04 Mar '25

Dear ChimeraX developers I a little bit confuse to find the Structure Minimization menu in ChimeraX. In Chimera 1.16 it located in menu Tools>Structure Editing>Minimize Structure. Could you please guide me for this little problem. Best regards Nuki B Nugroho

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(no subject)
by junjie han 02 Mar '25

02 Mar '25

Hi, I hope you are doing well. May I ask two questions? First one: Why does the connection part between the side chain and backbone, which is circled in a dashed line in ChimeraX, look so abnormal? How can I make it display normally? [cid:437c0c59-2e31-4251-ac9c-eff3f64af0dd] Second one: Is it possible to show the border only for a specific region of protein without hiding other regions? Thanks, Junjie

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define integer attributes for multiple individual pseudobonds
by hannes.ludewig＠googlemail.com 28 Feb '25

28 Feb '25

Dear developers, I am trying to color pseudobonds by an individual (per-bond) attribute value (integer). I seem to be unable to use .pb files to create individual pseudobonds. And when I am using the pbond command several times providing an individual name for each pseudobond thus creating individual models (#1.1, #1.2, etc) I am unable to assign an attribute and color all pseudobonds according to the corresponding attribute value. What I want to create is similar to the alphafold contacts colored by PAE. Only that the values I am providing aren't PAE and I would like to determine the residue pairs that form each pseudobond. I apologize in case I am overlooking something obvious, but your help and/or clarification would be very much appreciated. Thank you. Best wishes, Hannes

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Disulphide bridges in ISOLDE
by Guillaume Gaullier 28 Feb '25

28 Feb '25

Hello ISOLDE users and Tristan, Is there a distance threshold at which ISOLDE won't let me close a disulphide bridge? I am puzzled, because it seems I can close a disulphide between two Cys about 10 residues apart in sequence and quite far from each other in space. In fact much further apart than a bond length, so the resulting bond looks ridiculously stretched. But it is quickly fixed when running a local simulation, even if it needs to pull the backbone out of density to achieve a reasonable S-S bond length. In the same model, I have two other Cys that follow each other in sequence. When loading the AlphaFold prediction, the two S atoms are close enough (for some reason) that ISOLDE offers to make the disulphide, so I say yes. Later on, wanting to test both options to assess which one is best supported by the map, I can break this disulphide, but once I do there is no way to close it again. In this case, the two S atoms settle about 3.4 Å apart when removing the bond, which is longer than an ideal disulphide, but much shorter than the distance over which ISOLDE still allowed me to form a disulphide in the first case. The documentation doesn't say anything about disulphides (or somehow I missed it). In fact, there seems to be no command to operate on disulphides? Using the menu item does not write anything to the Log, so if there is a command I cannot find what it is and what options it might accept. If someone can help with this, I would appreciate it! Thank you, Guillaume --- Guillaume Gaullier, PhD Researcher, Blikstad group Molecular Biomimetics / Microbial Chemistry Department of Chemistry - Ångström Uppsala University Lägerhyddsvägen 1 752 37 Uppsala Sweden När du har kontakt med oss på Uppsala universitet med e-post så innebär det att vi behandlar dina personuppgifter. För att läsa mer om hur vi gör det kan du läsa här: http://www.uu.se/om-uu/dataskydd-personuppgifter/ E-mailing Uppsala University means that we will process your personal data. For more information on how this is performed, please read here: http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/data-protection-policy

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