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research article

ModelCIF Update: Supporting Emerging Classes of Computational Macromolecular Models

Tauriello, Gerardo
•
Lill, Yoriko
•
Sgrignani, Jacopo
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2026
Journal of Molecular Biology

The recent development of highly accurate protein structure prediction tools has led to a rapid expansion in the scope of computational structural biology, enabling a much wider range of modelling studies than ever before. These new in silico opportunities help life science researchers understand how proteins interact with their environment and support design of new molecules with desired properties. Ultimately, they have broad applications, e.g. in medicine, drug discovery or engineering. To ensure reproducibility and to facilitate data exchange and reuse, predicted structures or computed structure models can be stored using ModelCIF, a rich data representation designed to include the atomic coordinates/metadata. The previously published version of ModelCIF (1.4.4; 2022-12-21) mainly covered protein structure predictions generated by homology and ab initio modelling. In this work, we present an extension of the ModelCIF (https://github.com/ihmwg/ModelCIF) data standard and its associated tools. This extension supports important new use cases, including modelling protein–ligand and protein–protein interactions, sampling multiple conformational states and designing proteins de novo. We define guidelines for storage and validation of modelling results for those use cases by applying new and existing ModelCIF categories to capture protocols, inputs and outputs. Additionally, we outline updates to the software tools and resources that implement these new standards and provide functionality for model generation, validation, archiving, and visualisation. By enabling consistent metadata capture across different modelling workflows, this framework aims to support the FAIR dissemination of computational models, thereby promoting reproducibility and reusability in downstream applications.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1016/j.jmb.2026.169658
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105029297778

PubMed ID

41580068

Author(s)
Tauriello, Gerardo

Biozentrum, Universität Basel

Lill, Yoriko

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Sgrignani, Jacopo

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Zoete, Vincent

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Singer, Benedikt  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Vallat, Brinda

Protein Data Bank

Webb, Benjamin M.

Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences

Garello, Thomas

Biozentrum, Universität Basel

Bienert, Stefan

Biozentrum, Universität Basel

Feig, Michael

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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Date Issued

2026

Published in
Journal of Molecular Biology
Article Number

169658

Subjects

conformational states

•

data standard

•

macromolecular structure prediction

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protein complexes

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protein design

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
UPDALPE  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

US National Science Foundation

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

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Available on Infoscience
February 13, 2026
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/259425
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