- ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

alphafold block
by Roberto Marabini 15 Feb '22

15 Feb '22

Hi, I would like to write a script that executes "alphafold predict SEQUENCE" and then postprocess the results. The script would be similar to: from chimerax.core.commands import run run(session, "alphafold predict %s" % sequence_data) # wait until alphafold is done # and postprocess the file best_model.pdb but I do not know how to implement the part "wait until alphafold is done" if, after launching alphafold, I create a loop similar to: === counter = 0 current_size = _getSize(file_path) while current_size !=_getSize(file_path) or _getSize(file_path)==0 or not os.path.exists(file_path): current_size =_getSize(file_path) time.sleep(60) counter += 1 if counter > 240: # break after four hours if file is not created break ==== the loop is executed as soon as the alphafold command has been sent to google, the alphafold-colab window is not shown until the loop is finished and therefore, alphafold execution never starts. So the question is: how can I write a script that waits until the command "alphafold predict ..." finishes and then executes some code. Thanks Roberto

3 3

Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix
by Eric Pettersen 15 Feb '22

15 Feb '22

Yes, that was quite helpful. The 'foreach' option only became available starting with the 1.3 release. You are running 1.2.5, so you need to upgrade. --Eric > On Feb 14, 2022, at 3:35 PM, Rangarajan, Amith <Amith.Rangarajan(a)ucsf.edu> wrote: > > This Message Is From an External Sender > This message came from outside your organization. > hi Eric, > > i have submitted a bug report > > > thanks > amith > From: Eric Pettersen <pett(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:pett@cgl.ucsf.edu>> > Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 3:15 PM > To: Rangarajan, Amith <Amith.Rangarajan(a)ucsf.edu <mailto:Amith.Rangarajan@ucsf.edu>> > Cc: ChimeraX Users Help <ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu>> > Subject: Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix > > This Message Is From an External Sender > This message came from outside your organization. > Hi Amith, > I don't care so much about the contents of your script per se — I'd like to see the contents of the log when the error occurs. Do this: run the command that generates the "'foreach' has no suffix" error and then use Help→Report A Bug and submit a bug report. That will include the contents of the log, which is what I need to see. Thanks! > > --Eric > >> On Feb 10, 2022, at 4:52 AM, Rangarajan, Amith <Amith.Rangarajan(a)ucsf.edu <mailto:Amith.Rangarajan@ucsf.edu>> wrote: >> >> This Message Is From an External Sender >> This message came from outside your organization. >> Dear Tom and Eric, >> >> I used notepad ++ to make sure that the cxc file was not a .txt ( i am on windows) and i am still getting the error ( foreach has no suffix) . i have attached my .cxc script . >> >> I am trying to read a set of .mae files and write a log file with RMSD and some distance measurements. >> >> I am new to chimera and would benefit a lot from your review of my script and possible fixes for this issue. >> >> thank a lot for your time. >> >> best regards, >> amith >> From: Tom Goddard <goddard(a)sonic.net <mailto:goddard@sonic.net>> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 8, 2022 10:36 AM >> To: PETTERSEN, ERIC <pett(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:pett@cgl.ucsf.edu>> >> Cc: Rangarajan, Amith <Amith.Rangarajan(a)ucsf.edu <mailto:Amith.Rangarajan@ucsf.edu>> >> Subject: Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix >> >> This Message Is From an External Sender >> This message came from outside your organization. >> Hi Eric, >> >> Not quite sure I understand your theory abut Amith's error. In current ChimeraX daily build using non-existent files with open command >> >> open something.cxc foreach somethingelse.py >> > No such file/path: something.cxc >> >> gives a very sensible error message and does not try to interpret "foreach" as a file name. >> >> Tom >> >>> On Feb 8, 2022, at 9:40 AM, Eric Pettersen via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Amith, >>> That error message indicates to me that the first file name (script.cxc) isn't being recognized as a ChimeraX command script file. So take a hard look at the command you typed and make sure that the suffix for that file is ".cxc" and not something mistyped like ".cxs" or whatnot. >>> >>> --Eric >>> >>> Eric Pettersen >>> UCSF Computer Graphics Lab >>> >>> >>>> On Feb 8, 2022, at 6:25 AM, Rangarajan, Amith via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu>> wrote: >>>> >>>> This Message Is From an External Sender >>>> This message came from outside your organization. >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> I am trying to run a script and want to use foreach ( open script.cxc foreach *.pdb) to iterate through several pdb files in the working directory. >>>> >>>> I had no issues with running it earlier, but since last few tries, i am getting an error stating that ""'foreach' has no suffix"" >>>> >>>> I am not able to figure out how to debug this. >>>> >>>> I am using the latest build of chimerax. >>>> >>>> I will highly appreciate your suggestions on fixing this. >>>> >>>> best >>>> amith >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> ChimeraX-users mailing list >>>> ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> >>>> Manage subscription: >>>> https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users <https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ChimeraX-users mailing list >>> ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> >>> Manage subscription: >>> https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users <https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users> >> <RMSD-distance-final.cxc>

2 1

Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix
by Rangarajan, Amith 14 Feb '22

14 Feb '22

Dear Tom and Eric, I used notepad ++ to make sure that the cxc file was not a .txt ( i am on windows) and i am still getting the error ( foreach has no suffix) . i have attached my .cxc script . I am trying to read a set of .mae files and write a log file with RMSD and some distance measurements. I am new to chimera and would benefit a lot from your review of my script and possible fixes for this issue. thank a lot for your time. best regards, amith ________________________________ From: Tom Goddard <goddard(a)sonic.net> Sent: Tuesday, February 8, 2022 10:36 AM To: PETTERSEN, ERIC <pett(a)cgl.ucsf.edu> Cc: Rangarajan, Amith <Amith.Rangarajan(a)ucsf.edu> Subject: Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix Hi Eric, Not quite sure I understand your theory abut Amith's error. In current ChimeraX daily build using non-existent files with open command open something.cxc foreach somethingelse.py > No such file/path: something.cxc ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ‍ ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd Hi Eric, Not quite sure I understand your theory abut Amith's error. In current ChimeraX daily build using non-existent files with open command open something.cxc foreach somethingelse.py > No such file/path: something.cxc gives a very sensible error message and does not try to interpret "foreach" as a file name. Tom On Feb 8, 2022, at 9:40 AM, Eric Pettersen via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu<mailto:chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu>> wrote: Hi Amith, That error message indicates to me that the first file name (script.cxc) isn't being recognized as a ChimeraX command script file. So take a hard look at the command you typed and make sure that the suffix for that file is ".cxc" and not something mistyped like ".cxs" or whatnot. --Eric Eric Pettersen UCSF Computer Graphics Lab On Feb 8, 2022, at 6:25 AM, Rangarajan, Amith via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu<mailto:chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu>> wrote: This Message Is From an External Sender This message came from outside your organization. Hi, I am trying to run a script and want to use foreach ( open script.cxc foreach *.pdb) to iterate through several pdb files in the working directory. I had no issues with running it earlier, but since last few tries, i am getting an error stating that ""'foreach' has no suffix"" I am not able to figure out how to debug this. I am using the latest build of chimerax. I will highly appreciate your suggestions on fixing this. best amith _______________________________________________ ChimeraX-users mailing list ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu<mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> Manage subscription: https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users _______________________________________________ ChimeraX-users mailing list ChimeraX-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu<mailto:ChimeraX-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> Manage subscription: https://plato.cgl.ucsf.edu/mailman/listinfo/chimerax-users

2 1

Models panel selecting
by William Hofsøy 14 Feb '22

14 Feb '22

Hi, The checkboxes for selecting models in the "Models" panel can't select multiple models without first selecting their parent model and then unchecking all the other models. So I would like to request that it would be possible to select multiple models somehow, either shift clicking or maybe just by default as is what I would expect from them being checkboxes. Best Regards, William

2 1

Error reported by AlphaFold
by Juntao Yu 14 Feb '22

14 Feb '22

Dear ChimeraX community, I am a graduate student from Harvard Medical School who recently became interested in using AlphaFold-Multimer to predict protein complex structures of my interest. I have been tried a few times of predicting one protein complex and I was able to finish all MSA. However, when AlphaFold starts predicting the structure, all five models were reported as “error”. It is surprising to me because it is known that these two proteins should form a complex. I noticed in the script on the line is: “print ('\nAlphaFold generated an error computing %s, error logged to %s\n'% (model_name, error_log_path))”. The results printed exactly what this line says. I am wondering whether it means the Multimer is not able to predict this complex structure? Is there any tutorial that I can find to change parameters in order to try to improve and get a structure? Thanks, Juntao ------------------------------------------ Juntao Yu | Ph.D. candidate Moazed Lab Department of Cell Biology Harvard Medical School 240 Longwood Avenue Boston, MA 02115

2 1

Issues with download
by Clara Kjerfve 14 Feb '22

14 Feb '22

Hello, I have downloaded the updated daily version of your software but am unable to open the app. I have updated to the newest software and still not able to open it. Can you please send me some steps on how to proceed. Thank you. Clara Kjerfve

2 1

color submodels using a palette
by vincent Chaptal 14 Feb '22

14 Feb '22

Dear all, I have a pdb with 20 submodels inside (NMR type) that opens well in chimeraX. I would like to color each submodels individually, using a palette accross these models. For example from model #1.1 in red to model #1.20 in blue. I couldn't find the command online, does it exist in ChimeraX? Thank you Vincent -- Vincent Chaptal, PhD Director of GdR APPICOM Drug Resistance and Membrane Proteins Lab MMSB -UMR5086 7 passage du Vercors 69007 LYON FRANCE +33 4 37 65 29 01 http://www.appicom.cnrs.fr http://mmsb.cnrs.fr/en/

2 3

Re: [chimerax-users] python script for measuring distance
by Rangarajan, Amith 13 Feb '22

13 Feb '22

Hello everyone, Please see my script below: import os import sys from chimerax.core.commands import run as rc target_folder = '/wynton/home/jacobson/avranga1008/Documents/0-combo' os.chdir(target_folder) home =os.getcwd() all = os.listdir() xp_distance_file = os.path.join(home,'xp-distance.log') print_to_screen = sys.stdout mae_files =[] for f in all: if f.endswith('.mae'): mae_files.append(f) print(f'working on {f}') sys.stdout = open(xp_distance_file,'a') rc(session,"open " + f) rc(session,"measure center #1.1 & ligand mark true") rc(session,"measure center #1.1 :310,335,728,759 mark true") rc(session,"distance #2 #3") rc(session,"close") sys.stdout = print_to_screen print(f'completed writing xp-distance values to {xp_distance_file} ; now moving to next loop') for f in mae_files: line = f + '\n' open('file_list.txt','a').write(line) print("loop is complete") exit() I am curently using stdout to write the distance values to a file .I am currently running it on command line [cid:68afa919-1a35-470f-808c-242e97c85957] it seems like a round about way to do it. The output file has lot of special characters and it takes a bit of effort using regex to extract the values. I think there might be some logger in chimerax which can do this or some other better way to write results to a file , but i am not able to find it. ############# please let me know your suggestions on improving this code. thanks, amith

2 2

Re: [chimerax-users] Chimera system requirements
by Elaine Meng 10 Feb '22

10 Feb '22

> On Feb 10, 2022, at 10:03 AM, Armin Delnia <armindelnia(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Dear Sir/Madam, > I would like to ask what are the system requirements in order to run Chimera and ChimeraX in terms of the RAM and CPU specifications? Thank you. > Regards, > Armin Delnia Hello Armin, This e-mail address is for commercial licensing requests. For questions about using the program(s) we recommend chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu and/or chimera-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu. <https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/contact.html> <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/docs/feedback.html> I don't have a specific answer for you, but I CC'd chimerax-users(a)cgl.ucsf.edu on this message so you don't need to do anything else this time. I only have the following general information: the download pages say which operating systems are supported for running the programs. The ChimeraX download page also recommends using a computer <4 years old. <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/download.html> <https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimera/download.html> Best, Elaine ----- Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D. UCSF Chimera(X) team Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry University of California, San Francisco

3 2

How to define axes in chimeraX
by Zhao, Bingchun (NIH/VRC) [F] 10 Feb '22

10 Feb '22

Hi, I’ve been using Chimera to define the axes of my model, then to calculate the angle of approach, by using Tools • Structure analysis • Axes/Planes/Centroids • Define axes But I wasn’t able to find out the equivalent function in chimeraX. Would you please direct me to that function in ChimeraX? Thank you so much! Best regards, Bingchun Bingchun Zhao, PhD Postdoctoral, VF Biodefense Research Section VRC/NIAID/NIH Bldg 40, Room 2607B 40 Convent Drive Bethesda, MD 20892 Tel: 301-761-7649 Email: bingchun.zhao(a)nih.gov<mailto:bingchun.zhao@nih.gov>

2 2

Show atom style as spheres and stick simultaneously
by Mary Liu 10 Feb '22

10 Feb '22

Dear Chimera X users, Is it possible to show atom style as spheres and stick simultaneously with spheres displayed as dots or mesh so the stick is still visible within sphere dots? Thank you Mary

2 4

Loading AlphaFold output
by Daniel Trejo Banos 10 Feb '22

10 Feb '22

Hello everyone, I have the results from some AlphaFold runs, is there a way to open them with ChimeraX, so I can see the plDDT, without needing to run Alphafold from within ChimeraX? Thank you and best regards

3 2

bonding Question
by Noriega, Heather 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

Hello, I hope you are well. I have a quick question about the bond command. I attached the pdb file I have been using to try and learn this command. I am having a hard time figuring out how I should write it on the command line. If I want to create a bond between residue Lys76 from the antibody and the Oxygen #2 from my polymer, how would I write it on the command line? bond :lys76:O2 I have read the section in the manual but I think I am misunderstanding something, it keeps giving me a mangled atom specifier. Also, I figured out the problem from my last question/email about the volume in my viral capsid. :) Thank you for your help on that one Elaine. Thank you, Heather Noriega PhD-Pharmaceutical Science student Howard University heather.noriega(a)bison.howard.edu 520-203-1883

2 4

Pseudo bonds of missing structure in cartoon style
by Wout Oosterheert 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

Dear ChimeraX team, I’m making figures of a protein structure that has 4 residues missing in a flexible region. When I show the atoms as “style stick”, I can see a dashed pseudo bond between the two residues that connect the missing segment. However, when I “show cartoons” of the same structure, the dashed line disappears and the pseudo bond is no longer visible. Would you have any suggestions on what to change to make the missing structure appear as a dashed line when the model is shown in cartoon style? Of interest, in a similar structure where 3 instead of 4 residues are missing, the dashed line is in fact shown when the model is shown in cartoon style. In addition, in regular Chimera the dashed line that represents the 4 missing residues remains visible in cartoon style. Thank you for your time. Best wishes, Wout Wout Oosterheert, PhD Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology Otto-Hahn-Str. 11 44227 Dortmund, Germany Phone +49-(0)231-133-2357 Email: wout.oosterheert(a)mpi-dortmund.mpg.de<mailto:wout.oosterheert@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de>

2 5

Keep color on vseries
by Eric Pettersen 08 Feb '22

08 Feb '22

> > From: "Hunkeler, Moritz" <Moritz_Hunkeler(a)DFCI.HARVARD.EDU <mailto:Moritz_Hunkeler@DFCI.HARVARD.EDU>> > Subject: Keep color on vseries > Date: February 8, 2022 at 8:20:31 AM PST > To: ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users-bounces(a)cgl.ucsf.edu <mailto:chimerax-users-bounces@cgl.ucsf.edu>> > > > Hi, > > I am sure I am missing a simple step here, but I would like to visualize a vseries where each frame is colored according to an underlying model. So, I color all frames with ‘color zone #id near #id distance 15’ and then start the vseries with ‘loop true’ and ‘maxFrameRate 2’. However, as soon as it loops around once, the coloring of all maps is set back to the starting default color. Same thing happens if I just start the vseries twice without ‘loop true’: during the first round, all maps are colored correctly, during the second round all map coloring is reset. This seems to happen only when started from the command line, and not when started from the vseries slider. Is it possible to keep the map coloring when starting the vseries from the command line? I am using the version released 20220204. > > Best, > Moritz

2 1

Re: [chimerax-users] error with open :: 'foreach' has no suffix
by Rangarajan, Amith 08 Feb '22

08 Feb '22

Hi, I am trying to run a script and want to use foreach ( open script.cxc foreach *.pdb) to iterate through several pdb files in the working directory. I had no issues with running it earlier, but since last few tries, i am getting an error stating that ""'foreach' has no suffix"" I am not able to figure out how to debug this. I am using the latest build of chimerax. I will highly appreciate your suggestions on fixing this. best amith

2 2

Extract densities option not available on Segment Map
by Andre LB Ambrosio 08 Feb '22

08 Feb '22

Dear all, probably a silly question: I want to generate a mask o ChimeraX to use later on a local refinement job elsewhere. I managed to segment the cryoEM map and group the regions of interest. However, the "Extract densities" option is unavailable on the "Regions" menu. Likewise, these are unavailable on "Other tools" shortcuts options: Extract, iSeg, ProMod, and ModelZ. Please, what am I missing? I appreciate any help you can provide. -- Andre LB Ambrosio Associate Professor, IFSC/USP - Brazil www.ifsc.usp.br/alba

4 4

extraction of certain cryo-em density
by Dmitry A. Semchonok 08 Feb '22

08 Feb '22

2 1

Next/previous buttons?
by Oliver Clarke 07 Feb '22

07 Feb '22

Hi, The Next/Previous buttons in original Chimera, combined with the capacity to lock the display status of one model (using the "Skip") checkboxes, are really useful when comparing multiple maps (particularly multiple aligned maps with a single atomic model), and I really miss this functionality in ChimeraX... would it be possible to add it to the (diminishing!) list of features to port over? Cheers Oli PS My mind was blown yesterday when I found out that ChimeraX has (universal?) undo/redo bound to hotkeys! Would it be possible to add the option of user defined hotkeys...? E.g. for invoking a custom function, style, lighting etc?

5 22

keeping multi-chain models locked between chains
by Martti Tolvanen 07 Feb '22

07 Feb '22

Dear ChimeraX gurus and demi-gods, I have created a hypothetical multimer model for a protein which has a dimeric structure in PDB (with a large protein-protein interface, considered real), but misses the C-terminal part of the full protein sequence. AlphaFold predicts there to be an amphipathic helix in the missing part, as we also did in our theoretical work. The hypothesis is that the protein could form larger multimers by binding either via the face-face interactions, as in the PDB dimer of catalytic domains, or via helix-helix interactions (tail-tail) as in coiled coils, to create multimers of type AB-BA-AB-BA-AB-BA etc., A being the helical domain and B the catalytic domain. I have created antiparallel coiled-coil-like helix dimers from the helix predicted by AlphaFold with the help of zdock (big thanks for adding the zdock file open functionality in the daily build!) and built a hexamer model using 3fe4 and my best-looking zdock helix pair as templates for orienting the six copies of the monomeric alphafold model. The helix is randomly placed outside of the confident catalytic domain structure in the AlphaFold model, and there is a linker of poor confidence between the domains. With the original orientation of the helix my first-effort hexamer has the catalytic domains partly overlapping, and I'd need to rotate some bonds manually to orient the subunits into realistic positions. I wouldn't care even if I create some serious Ramachandran plot outliers there, when the goal is just to get a visualization for the multimer hypothesis. The problem is that when I rotate any bond in the linker, I either swing one helix out of a coiled-coil pair or one catalytic domain out of the face-to-face dimer interface (depending if I use move small of move large, respectively, in the torsion command). How could I get all six chains into a single chain? I assume that then I would be moving the whole rest of the multimer as a rigid body if I rotate any main-chain bond in the linker regions. ChimeraX session file attached. Cheers, -Martti Tolvanen U of Turku, Finland

3 3

Re: [chimerax-users] chimeraX on wynton ( UCSF-specific)
by Rangarajan, Amith 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

Hi, This question is relevant for UCSF only. I have a set of docked poses that i want to analyze using chimera x script ( check ligand RMSDs, distances etc...) . My laptop is not that great, so i can use Wynton, if possible, to do this . is chimerax available on Wynton nodes? if so, please give me a short intro to get started on using chimerax on Wynton. thanks, amith I

2 1

Automate calculation and saving of residues' structural attributes
by André 04 Feb '22

04 Feb '22

Hello! I'm working on an automated pipeline (in Python) for the structural analysis of proteins. In particular, I'm using Chimera to calculate and save to .txt files some structural properties of residues (namely: areaSAS, areaSES, relSESA, bfactor, kdhydro, phi, psi). These files are the inputs of the pipeline. However, currently the files are exported manually, and, for the purpose of building a fully automated pipeline, it would be great to also automate this step of calculating the attributes and exporting their respective files. I searched a lot, and tried some ways to achieve such an automation (using Chimera), but nothing worked. And I also considered using ChimeraX. In particular, I went through ChimeraX Programming Manual ( https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/devel/index.html#) but, if I understood correctly, I'd only be able to import chimerax and use its functions in the Python interpreter within ChimeraX (Tools >> General >> Shell). At first, I'd like to import chimerax as a module in a Python interpreter outside of ChimeraX, so that manually opening ChimeraX wouldn't be necessary in order to save the files with the residues' attributes. But, from some other threads in the mailing list, I found that it wouldn't be possible (right?) But I also found out that I could write a .py script which calculates and exports the files with the residues' properties, and then run it with ChimeraX application from the command-line, something like: *chimerax --nogui myscript.py* If that works, I think that my automation problem would be solved! The only problem is that I really couldn't figure out the Python code to calculate and export the aforementioned residues' properties (I took a look in ChimeraX Recipes (https://rbvi.github.io/chimerax-recipes/) but I couldn't find what I need, nor more detailed documentation). Given that, I'd like to know if anyone has done something like this, and/or have any guidance on how I could proceed. I really appreciate any help you can provide! (And thanks to Tom Goddard for suggesting moving the discussion here to the ChimeraX mailing list). Thank you so much, André.

3 10

Is there an output directory command for spin movies or morphs?
by Ralph Loring 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

Hi, I've given my students an assignment due on Monday which includes making a spin movie. About a third of the class tells me that they can see the molecule spinning while the movie is compiling, but that they can't find where the mp4 file goes. I have no trouble using my laptop, but if I use my office desktop computer, I have the same problem (see picture). The first two error messages were endogenously generated by ChimeraX, the last 3 were me trying to force the output directory. When I spoke to our IT people, they informed me that university computers are not allowed to save files to the public desktop, but prefer that it go to the user desktop in Onedrive. My question is whether there's a command that I can give before running a spin movie that specifies in what directory the output file should be put? Thanks, Ralph Ralph H. Loring Associate Professor of Pharmacology Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences 166 TF Northeastern University 360 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115 USA 617-373-3216 office 617-373-8886 fax r.loring(a)northeastern.edu

3 3

Change default palette for sequential coloring?
by Oliver Clarke 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

Hi, I really like the option to use custom palettes from colorbrewer etc in ChimeraX for sequential coloring. Would it be possible to allow users to change the palette used as the default for sequential coloring? E.g. I really like "RdYlBu-5 (3-11)", but I can never remember the name or syntax, and for quick jobs I would love to be able to to set the default coloring scheme so it is just set up the way I like it. Cheers Oli

3 2

Coloring Chains Sensitive to Case After Combine
by Anderson, Jacob 03 Feb '22

03 Feb '22

Dear ChimeraX, Really loving the implementation of the combine command in 1.3! After using the combine command to create a model with >30 chains, the resultant model has some chains with the same chain ID but with a lowercase (i.e. #6/D and #6/d are in the model). When I color #6/D (i.e. color #6/D green), this also is coloring chain #6/d. Is this the expected behavior? When I read help:user/commands/atomspec.html it seems that the chain identifier should be case sensitive if both upper and lowercase chain IDs are present. Curious if there is a way to force the case sensitivity.

2 1

"Backbone N-H atoms” as Ball & Stick representation
by Gupta, Arun 02 Feb '22

02 Feb '22

Hello Elaine and team, I am working with Chemical shifts based CS-Rosetta generated NMR structural model of the protein (amino acid sequence 1-84). And, I would like to show the “backbone N-H atoms” in the NMR structural model in a ball & stick representation. The series of command which I have used are as follows Open pdb cartoon suppress false sel #1:1-84 @n,h And finally from ChimeraX GUI interface, I am choosing following set of options Action/Atom style/ Ball & Stick. But nothing happens. It seems I am missing something. Please suggest the way around with this problem. Thanks! Arun Arun Gupta PhD, MRSC Research Fellow Challis & Lewandowski Group Chemistry Department University of Warwick Gibbet Hill Road Coventry CV4 7AL United Kingdom

2 1

Default Save Location
by William Wang 02 Feb '22

02 Feb '22

Hi ChimeraX Team. Is there anyway to set the default location for the save command as somewhere other than desktop? Thank you William Wang Undergraduate Student Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

2 1

Building ChimeraX Bundle
by Zeng, Katie 01 Feb '22

01 Feb '22

Dear ChimeraX Users, I'm currently working on a bundle for building lipid membranes and I have a few questions: 1. A part of my bundle is a lipid selector that works with AMBER-compatible pdb files. I followed the tutorial and have successfully built a selector that selects all lipids of the type I specify (say, I put in the command line 'sel POPC' then all the POPCs in the membrane get highlighted). Because of the way AMBER lipid forcefields work, individual lipids are separated into three residues, one head and two tails. I'm trying to add a function to my bundle such that individual lipids can be selected - e.g. when I select a headgroup and go [up]+[up], then the entire lipid can be selected. How can I group three residues together in a bundle? 2. Is it possible to register multiple selectors through a single function? There are many lipids that I want to include in the selector, but for now I have to copy the same function over and over if I want to do that. It will be great if I could have a list containing all the names of the lipids and have a function that registers all of them. 3. Are there any built bundles that are open source? I tried to access the source code of bundles after installing them but I couldn't find the directory of which they are stored. It will be really helpful if I could refer to them. Thank you so much for your help! Best Regards, Katie

3 2

hbonds and the number of detected interactions
by Enrico Martinez 31 Jan '22

31 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I have a question regarding calculations of the hydrogen bonds and its visualisation using hbonds. Here is my command: hbonds #1 & ligand reveal true log true radius 0.06 dashes 6 color turquoise distSlop 0.4 angleSlop 20 intraRes false So I ignore intraRes (since the ligand is also present in the #1) and calculate hydrogen bonds using default parameters. 1) How can I modify geometric criteria for the calculations (is this distSlop / angleSlop) to increase the distance for the consideration of potential h-bonds ? In particular as you may see on the attached image the bond between the side-chain of the Glu166 and NH of the ligand is absent (I've just checked the same structure using py*ol and it could detect this contact). 2) In the case of another ligand, I could visualize two h-bonds provided by two hydrogens of the side chain of the Gln189 (same residue) with two different oxygens of the ligand. Is this correct? Many thanks for the tips! Yours sincerely Enrico

3 15

ChimeraX 1.4 Download?
by Nayla Abney 27 Jan '22

27 Jan '22

Good evening, Hope you are doing well! I am trying to use your ChimeraX 1.4 download after watching this AlphaFold Protein Complex via ChimeraX Youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lXeCPuTePs) However, I am having issues finding the download for the 1.4 version because your website only shows the 1.3 download (https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/download.html) When I try using this version, I am having issues with inputting the sequence in the correct format because I keep getting a sequence argument error. I have tried looking up documentation for this version and this error, however, I am only seeing 1.4 documentation. Could you guide me in the right direction of where I should go ideally for the 1.4 download? I guess my Googling skills could use some help :) Thank you! ------------------------------------------------------ Nayla

3 3

Help viewer is blank after upgrading to Fedora 35
by Nicholas R Silvaggi 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Hello, I am just getting started with ChimeraX. I installed the latest production release (Centos 8 version, ucsf-chimerax-1.3-1.el8.x86_64) on my Fedora 33 workstation. It worked great. I installed Isolde and Clipper through the help viewer winder and everything was great. Yesterday I upgraded the operating system to Fedora 35, and now the help viewer no longer works. It is just blank. I can't get it to show other web sites, files from my hard drive - nothing. I installed ChimeraX on 3 other workstations, and all have the same problem. This is very curious and there is no error output that I can find to help point me to the problem. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks for your help, Nick Silvaggi P.S. I also tried uninstalling the production release and installing the Centos 8 version of the latest nightly build - same problem persists. Nicholas R Silvaggi, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry 3210 North Cramer St Milwaukee, WI 53211 Office: Chemistry 372D Phone: 414-229-2647 silvaggi(a)uwm.edu

3 3

Modeller python script
by Mary Liu 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Dear Chimera X team, I'm using Modeller in ChimeraX to build a homology model. Is there a way to look at the python script to know how it works? Thanks Mary

2 2

3Dconnexion
by Wang, Difei (NIH/NCI) [C] 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Hello ChimeraX team, Thanks for developing the ChimeraX! It is easier to use than Chimera. However, I noticed that my 3Dconnexion could not work anymore when I use ChimeraX. Will it be possible to include such a function in the future version of ChimeraX? Thanks, Difei ======================== Difei Wang, Ph.D. Bioinformatician (Contractor) BB/DCEG/NCI/NIH 9609 Shady Grove Rd. Rockville MD 20850 USA Tel: 1-240-276-5092 ========================

2 1

Surface coloring
by Enrico Martinez 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I am working on the protein-ligand binding visualizations using surface representation for the protein. In this case (please see enclosed example) I used mlp palette moccasin:sienna:sandybrown range -55,55 to make this expression of the protein in the Mountain style :-) Two questions: 1) how can I introduce more "dark" gradients into the cavities (similar to the vulcan) ? 2) is it possible to switch the coloring pattern from such a "realistic" view to the animated "cartoon" style ? 3) Any additional advice for the surface visualisations ? Many thanks in advance! Enrico

2 2

artistic cartoon visualisations
by Enrico Martinez 26 Jan '22

26 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I am working on the improvement of the cartoon visualizations. Here are some options that I have found very cool: preset 'overall look' publication cartoon style coil thickness 0.22 set silhouettes t; set silhouetteColor firebrick; set silhouetteDepthJump 0.02 could you please suggest me something, which may further develop these ideas? In particularly I would like to improve representations of the beta-sheets making the arrow-ends more elongated and cylindrical Many thanks in advance Enrico

2 2

Debian 10 Installation
by Martin Urban 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users, I have a problem with the installation of ChimeraX under Debian 10 buster. I downloaded the ucsf-chimerax_1.3ubuntu18.04_amd64.deb from the official website. I installed it one time with: /sudo dpkg -i //ucsf-chimerax_1.3ubuntu18.04_amd64.deb /and also with /sudo apt-get install .///ucsf-chimerax_1.3ubuntu18.04_amd64.deb./ Both times I get the same error message: qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in " " even though it was found. This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem. The full error message is as attachment in this mail. I searched the web for an answer and came up with three entries of this mailing list. I followed the described way in these mails, but nothing worked for me (1st mail: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/pipermail/chimerax-users/2021-October/002797.html; 2nd mail: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/pipermail/chimerax-users/2021-October/002770.html; 3rd mail: https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/pipermail/chimerax-users/2021-June/002339.html) Do you have an answer or a solution to my problem? Greetings from Germany -- Martin

2 2

Ribbon Thicken
by Cameron Larson 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Hello, Is there a way to thicken ribbons so I can 3d print a structure? What do you recommend for 3d printing a structure? -Cameron Larson

2 3

Re: [chimerax-users] rename a ligand from UNK 999
by Rangarajan, Amith 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users, When i add a pdb file to chimera , the resulting model displays the ligand as UNK 999 and when i am having multiple models , it will help to be able to edit the UNK to name the ligand. is there a way to do it ? thanks , amith

2 2

Displaying secondary structure elements
by Enrico Martinez 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! Could you suggest to me the command which will 1) hide all loops from the selected object? 2) hide all loop regions which contain more than 10 residues (=hide long loops)? Thank you in advance! Enrico

2 2

Surface representation of protein-ligand interactions
by Enrico Martinez 25 Jan '22

25 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I am working on the surface representation of the protein-ligand contacts. Here is my script: # load pdb of the complex and keep inly the 1st model open pdb.pdb close #1.2-end #calculate electrostatic surface coulombic protein key true #change view of the ligand size ligand atomRadius +.8 color #1.1 & ligand & C gold style ligand sphere #protein-ligand contacts hbonds #1.1 & ligand reveal true log true contacts #1.1 & ligand makePseudobonds false reveal true log true label @@display height 0.8 color orange ~label ligand hide #1 & protein bonds hide #1 & protein pseudobonds Here are my questions: 1) is it possible to set transparency on the part of the displayed surface that overlaps (hide) with the part of the displayed ligand? i've tried: transparency 20 surface, but it change the transparency for whole surface 2) how I may improve further sphere representation of the ligand? it looks very nice but probably there are further modifications ? 3) is it possible to customize the following commands to display amino-acids that within specified distance within the ligand (I would like to display only very closer amino-acids): contacts #1.1 & ligand makePseudobonds false reveal true log true label @@display height 0.8 color orange Many thanks in advance! Cheers Enrico

2 14

Color atoms by RMSD
by Nebojsa Bogdanovic 21 Jan '22

21 Jan '22

Hello, I am looking to color the atoms (cartoon representation) by RMSD values obtained from the matching of the two structures. Is there such a function? I would like to show which part of the target domain is moving the most in comparison to the previously x-ray solved structure of a know ligand state without showing the actual structures overlaid. Thank You very much. Nebojša Bogdanović, Ph.D Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

2 2

Assessment of labeling data using ChimeraX
by Alessio Di Ianni 20 Jan '22

20 Jan '22

Respectable ChimeraX developers, how can I visualize labeling data obtained by Mass Spec Studio into a pdb structure using ChimeraX? A help will be definitely appreciated. Best regards Alessio Di Ianni PhD Student Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Bioanalytics Center for Structural Mass Spectrometry Institute of Pharmacy Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, Entance C D-06120 Halle/Saale Tel: +49 (0)345 55 25224

2 5

selecting and translating / rotating 1 of the models/maps
by Dmitry Semchonok 20 Jan '22

20 Jan '22

Dear colleagues, Quick question. In chimeraX, with multiple models, how can I select and rotate/translate only one/ or two of them? In chimera it was possible to make the selection in the model panel. Kind regards, Dmitry

2 1

view and the center of mass of the selection
by Enrico Martinez 20 Jan '22

20 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I am using view command to center the camera on the ligand an then, to rotate th whole system to the desired position: view #1.1 & ligand orient clip false; turn z 90; turn y 45; turn x -90; turn x 77 may I rather center the camera on the center of mass of the ligand calculated using measure center ligand If so, how may I combine the both commands together? Thank you in advance! Enrico

3 5

Feature requests
by Ishwar Radhakrishnan 19 Jan '22

19 Jan '22

Hello - I would like to request two features in ChimeraX that we use a lot in Chimera: 1. Render by Attribute 2. Ability to read .poc files created by CASTp Thanks, Ishwar

4 9

service unavailable for toolshed
by Bharti Singal 18 Jan '22

18 Jan '22

Hi , I am trying to install isolde and clipper tools on chimerax 1.3 but the toolshed is giving error for last 24 hours "service unavailable". Is it possible to get the download link of these two tools as I need them for some urgent work? Best regards, Bharti Singal Bharti Singal, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Scholar (Al-Bassam's Lab) Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology| College of Biological Sciences| University of California, Davis| 605 Hutchison Dr, Davis, CA 95616, USA

2 2

labeling of protein-ligand interactions
by Enrico Martinez 18 Jan '22

18 Jan '22

Dear ChimeraX users! I am working on the visualization of the protein-ligand interactions. The two below commands are used to visualize and label amino acids involved in the interactions with the ligand contacts #1.1 & ligand makePseudobonds false reveal true log true label @@display How could I increase the font size and change the colour of the displayed amino acid labels (like Tyr-188)? Is it possible to hide the name of the ligand which always appears after the label command? Many thanks in advance! Enrico

2 3

Alphafold multimer
by Rafael Ponce 17 Jan '22

17 Jan '22

Dear Sir or Madam, I want to predict the structure of a complex in ChimeraX using alphafold, but it seems that this feature is going to be in version 1.4 but version 1.3 is the one that is currently available, so I would like to know if you have an estimation of when the version 1.4 will be available to download. Thank you in advance for the information. Best regards, Rafael Ponce

2 1

zoom on the selection after orientation of the selected object
by Enrico Martinez 17 Jan '22

17 Jan '22

Dear Chimera users! I am using ChimeraX for the visualization of protein-ligand interactions comparing two different pdb structures A - ensemble for doclong; B- X-ray pose: open A.pdb open B.pdb' match #2 to #1.1 # close all docking poses with the exemption of the first pose: close #1.2-end view wait # hide the protein from X-ray pose keeping only ligand for visualisation: hide #2 & protein cartoon hide #2 & protein surface hide #2 & protein #orient view on the model 1.1 and zoom closer view #1.1 orient; turn z 90 zoom 1.5 wait The problem is that when I use zoom 1.5 after view #1.1 it hides completely the representation for the molecule on the current GUI. Otherwise, it works fine if I center view on the both A and B: view orient; turn z 90 zoom 1.5 How could I zoom the screen properly after orientation of the view on the first molecule? Many thanks in advance! Enrico

2 3

Cleaning a pdb file
by Martin Urban 16 Jan '22

16 Jan '22

Hey there, I have a specific pdf file (3BMP.pdb) and I would like to "clean" it from the chemical compounds which are in the file. I would like to know if there is anyway in ChimeraX to "clean" the file programmatically? Greetings from Germany - Martin

2 2