Eric Martz teaching at Osaka University, Japan, 2009, in Keiichi Namba's Protonic Nanomachine Group. Photograph courtesy of Akihiro Kawamoto. (T-Shirt)

• Contact: emartz@microbio.umass.edu
• Martz Faculty Page (less up to date) at the Department of Microbiology Website.

Macromolecular Visualization and Structural Bioinformatics

• FirstGlance in Jmol (firstglance.jmol.org): A simple tool for exploring structures of proteins and protein-ligand or protein-drug interactions that works on all popular platforms and browsers without installing anything (except java). Adopted by Nature (see the 3D View links there) and other bioinformatics resources. Open source, freely downloadable from bioinformatics.org/firstglance. First offered in 2005.
  
  
• Proteopedia.Org is a wiki (a user-annotated website) that connects interactive 3D molecular structure views to explanatory text. It was created in 2007 by Joel Sussman, Eran Hodis, and Jaime Prilusky at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. I joined their team in 2008, and have contributed many articles. [Hodis et al., 2008.]

Evolutionary conservation in the ligand-binding domain of a lymphocyte adhesion molecule revealed by Protein Explorer and the ConSurf Server. The domain above is from the leukocyte integrin LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) discovered in 1981 by Springer, Martz, et al.. This structure was solved by Qu & Leahy in 1995, PDB code 1lfa.

• The ConSurf Server (consurf.tau.ac.il) automatically identifies evolutionarily conserved surface patches on proteins. Developed by Nir Ben-Tal, Fabian Glaser, Tal Pupko, Elana Erez et al. at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. I provided integrated 3D visualization, initially with Protein Explorer, and later with FirstGlance in Jmol. First available Fall 2002. [Landau et al., 2005; Glaser et al., 2003.]

• MolviZ.org: Educational Macromolecular Visualization Tutorials & Resources including structures of DNA, hemoglobin, antibody, MHC, lipid bilayers and channels, water, and more. Portions first offered in 1996. MolviZ.org domain name starting fall 2004. Includes:
  
  
  • Top Five Molecular Visualization Resources for the Rest Of Us (top5.molviz.org): Tutorials, Exploration Tools, & Communication Tools that work on Windows and Mac OS X without installing anything (except java), and will remain available for years to come. (None of these resources uses MDL Chime.)
    
    
  • High School Teachers' Molecular Visualization Resources (highschool.molviz.org): Designed for high school teachers, working on Windows and Mac OS X, nothing to install.
    
    
  • Our illustrated Atlas of Macromolecules (atlas.molviz.org) provides a handy source of examples to educators and students. First available in 2002.

• Short Courses in Practical Macromolecular Visualization and Structural Bioinformatics (workshops.molviz.org) can be arranged.

• The World Index of Molecular Visualization Resources (molvisindex.org): a visitor-maintained database, first offered in 2000.
  
  
• Protein Explorer (proteinexplorer.org): Popular 1998-2006 for exploring, understanding, and qualitative analysis of structures of proteins and protein-ligand or protein-drug interactions. MERLOT Classic Award for Biology in 2003: "has revolutionized the teaching of biology at a molecular level". Adopted as a visualization option by several bioinformatics resources. First offered in 1998; developed until 2007, when the MDL Chime plugin upon which it depends became increasingly problematic. [Martz, 2002.]

• PDB Lite (pdblite.org), mirrored worldwide, helps beginners find published protein structures. First available 1998.

• The Molecular Visualization Freeware EMail Discussion provides an international forum for educators and developers. Founded 1995.

• RasMol Classic Site provides the most complete documentation available for RasMol 2.6, a popular macromolecular visualization tool by Roger A. Sayle. Website developed 1995-2000. Subsequent RasMol development: rasmol.org.

Ceramic art of my parents, Karl Martz and Becky Brown

• Microbiology 597V: Macromolecular Visualization Lab: 2002, 2000, 1999. First taught 1998.
• Microbiology 320: Infectious Disease and Defense. Taught 1999-2003.
• Microbiology 540: Immunology. Taught 1981-2003.
• Microbiology 542: Immunology Laboratory. Taught 1981-2003.
• Microbiology 797J: Immunology Journal Club. Co-taught from mid-1980's through 2002.