Ribbon models of macromolecules

A smooth 3D ribbon model of a protein is easily constructed by creating a set of nearly parallel B-spline curves fitted to the peptide plane. These models may be coded by residue to depict such information as secondary structure, residue type or temperature factors. The computation of the curves defining the ribbon model is explained in detail. Solid surface models of the protein backbone may be rendered, using the ribbon curve as a basis. Nucleic acid molecules may be represented as ribbon models in much the same fashion. The method is applicable to both vector and raster devices, and is illustrated with the Evans and Sutherland PS300 and the Silicon Graphics Iris workstation.

Keywords: proteins, nucleic acids, 3D ribbon models, B-spline curves

received 17 February 1987, accepted 24 March 1987

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This paper descibes in detail the steps necessary to compute the line segments approximating the curve of the B-spline parameterization. ...
The techniques presented are also applicable to nucleic acids. ...
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Note: there is an error in one of the matrices given in this paper. See the appendix of the Ribbons 2.0 paper for the correct formulations.

Best Figures:

Figure 2. B-splines of model fMet t-RNA (plot from PS300 screen).

Colour Plate 4 - Solid ribbon model of ubiquitin.
'Textures' the residue to show chain/dipole directions.