PDB-101 Focus: Peak Performance

03/15 

Since 2014, PDB-101 has focused on different topics to help build a collection molecular stories around a particular theme. Past topics have included cancer and diabetes.

In 2025, PDB-101 will highlight the structural stories of Peak Performance: the structural biology of athletics and well-being.

Athletes require bodies that are the best that is possible, all the way from molecules to muscles. By understanding the structure and function of our molecules, athletes can ensure that they are performing at their peak. This knowledge also informs the ways that we all can live our best lives, at all stages of our lives.

Visit the PDB-101 Peak Performance Browser for resources such as:

Hemoglobin, which ferries oxygen in our blood, and myoglobin, which stores oxygen ready for use in muscle cells, both require iron to function. However, the water and oxygen in our bodies may convert the iron ions to an unusable rust-like state. Our bodies maintain a store of usable iron by sheltering these ions inside ferritin, a hollow, spherical protein shown as a cross-section in this visualization. Once the iron ions (red) enter ferritin through tiny pores, they are converted to a different state and form a shell attached to the interior of the protein. An impressive 4500 iron ions can fit inside a single molecule of ferritin.
Visit the 2025 Calendar: The Structural Biology of Nutrition to learn more.
Illustration by RCSB PDB intern Xinyi Christine Zhang.

Learn more in the article Molecule of the Month: Ferritin and Transferrin