Macromolecular Crystallographic Information File

{{Short description|File format used for macromolecular structure data}}

{{Infobox file format

| name = Macromolecular Crystallographic Information File

| screenshot = CSD CIF MBSECR.png

| extension = {{mono|.mmcif}}

| mime = chemical/x-mmcif

| developer = International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), Protein Data Bank

| owner =

| creatorcode =

| latest_release_version = 5.372

| latest_release_date = 12 June 2023

| genre = chemical file format

| container for =

| contained by =

| extended from = Crystallographic Information File

| extended to =

| url = {{URL|https://mmcif.wwpdb.org/}}

}}

The Macromolecular Crystallographic Information File (mmCIF) also known as PDBx/mmCIF is a standard text file format for representing macromolecular structure data, developed by the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) and the Protein Data Bank{{cite book |last1=Bourne |first1=PE |last2=Berman |first2=HM |last3=McMahon |first3=B |last4=Watenpaugh |first4=KD |last5=Westbrook |first5=JD |last6=Fitzgerald |first6=PM |chapter=Macromolecular crystallographic information file |title=Macromolecular Crystallography Part B |series=Methods in Enzymology |date=1997 |volume=277 |pages=571–90 |doi=10.1016/s0076-6879(97)77032-0 |pmid=18488325 |isbn=978-0-12-182178-4 }} It is an extension of the Crystallographic Information File (CIF), specifically for macromolecular data, such as proteins and nucleic acids, incorporating elements from the PDB file format.

mmCIF is intended as an alternative to the Protein Data Bank (PDB) format and is now the default format used by the Protein Data Bank.{{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=PD |last2=Afonine |first2=PV |last3=Baskaran |first3=K |last4=Berman |first4=HM |last5=Berrisford |first5=J |last6=Bricogne |first6=G |last7=Brown |first7=DG |last8=Burley |first8=SK |last9=Chen |first9=M |last10=Feng |first10=Z |last11=Flensburg |first11=C |last12=Gutmanas |first12=A |last13=Hoch |first13=JC |last14=Ikegawa |first14=Y |last15=Kengaku |first15=Y |last16=Krissinel |first16=E |last17=Kurisu |first17=G |last18=Liang |first18=Y |last19=Liebschner |first19=D |last20=Mak |first20=L |last21=Markley |first21=JL |last22=Moriarty |first22=NW |last23=Murshudov |first23=GN |last24=Noble |first24=M |last25=Peisach |first25=E |last26=Persikova |first26=I |last27=Poon |first27=BK |last28=Sobolev |first28=OV |last29=Ulrich |first29=EL |last30=Velankar |first30=S |last31=Vonrhein |first31=C |last32=Westbrook |first32=J |last33=Wojdyr |first33=M |last34=Yokochi |first34=M |last35=Young |first35=JY |title=Announcing mandatory submission of PDBx/mmCIF format files for crystallographic depositions to the Protein Data Bank (PDB). |journal=Acta Crystallographica Section D |date=1 April 2019 |volume=75 |issue=Pt 4 |pages=451–454 |doi=10.1107/S2059798319004522 |pmid=30988261 |pmc=6465986 }}

mmCIF was designed to address limitations of the PDB format in terms of capacity and flexibility, especially with the increasing size and complexity of macromolecular structures being determined.

The format is part of the larger Crystallographic Information Framework, a system of exchange protocols based on data dictionaries and relational rules expressible in different machine-readable manifestations, including, but not restricted to, the original Crystallographic Information File and XML.