Making X-ray crystallographic refinement accessible for non structural biologists

TL;DR

This paper introduces methods to help non-experts in structural biology participate in X-ray crystallography refinement with expert guidance.

Contribution

The novel contribution is enabling non-structural biologists to engage in model building and refinement with crystallographic support.

Findings

Non-structural biologists can now check electron density maps with expert guidance.

Collaborative refinement improves the reliability of crystallographic models.

Active participation of project members enhances final coordinate evaluation.

Abstract

In X-ray crystallographic structure analysis, crystallographic refinement is often performed by experts, and the resulting coordinates are used as- is by collaborators. However, to obtain a highly reliable model and its interpretations, it is essential that not only experts in crystallographic structure analysis but also members involved in the project actively participate in model building and evaluation of the final coordinates. Here, we present our efforts to enable non structural biologists to check electron density maps and perform crystallographic refinement with the support of X-ray crystallographers.