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🖼️ Framework Overview

Complete multi-level extraction pipeline — from raw PDB input to seven analysis-ready output modules spanning atomic, residue, chain, and global levels.

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✨ Key Features

Feature	Details
7 Output Modules	Global · Per-Residue · Per-Atom · Per-Chain · Interactions · SS Segments · CA Distance Matrix
~120 Features per Residue	SASA, dihedrals, contacts, H-bonds, salt bridges, disulfides, π–π stacking, cation–π, network centrality, B-factors, and more
Auto-Dependency Install	Missing packages detected and installed automatically before any computation
Dual PDB Format Support	Full RCSB format (with HEADER/REMARK/SEQRES records) and stripped ATOM-only files
Multi-Core Parallel	Configurable CPU parallelism via --cores flag
ML-Ready Output	Tidy, long-format CSV files compatible with pandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch Geometric
Zero Configuration	Single script — no YAML, no config files, no project scaffold

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🚀 Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository
gh repo clone lovekaushik899/StructuraMiner
cd StructuraMiner

# (Recommended) Create a virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate       # Linux / macOS
# .venv\Scripts\activate        # Windows

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

Self-healing mode: If you skip the pip install step, StructuraMiner will detect and auto-install any missing packages on its first run.

Basic Usage

# Single-core extraction (minimal)
python structuraminer.py --input my_protein.pdb

# Multi-core extraction with custom output prefix
python structuraminer.py --input my_protein.pdb --cores 8 --output my_run

# Quiet mode (suppress logging)
python structuraminer.py --input my_protein.pdb --cores 4 --quiet

# Check version
python structuraminer.py --version

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📋 Command-Line Arguments

Argument	Short	Default	Description
--input	-i	required	Path to input .pdb file
--cores	-c	1	Number of CPU cores for parallel extraction
--output	-o	PDB file stem	Prefix for all output file names
--quiet	-q	False	Suppress verbose timestamped progress logging
--version			Print version number and exit

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📦 Output Files

StructuraMiner produces 8 output files for every run, all prefixed with the input PDB stem (or --output prefix):

1. {stem}_global_features.csv

A single-row CSV capturing the protein's holistic properties.

Feature Group	Key Columns
Metadata	pdb_id, title, resolution_A, structure_method, space_group
Composition	n_residues, count_{AA}, frac_{AA}, n_chains, n_water, n_hetatm
Physicochemistry	mw_da, net_charge_pH7, pI_approx, frac_hydrophobic, mean_hydrophobicity_KD/Eisenberg
Geometry	radius_of_gyration_A, convex_hull_volume_A3, pca_eigenval_1-3, asphericity, prolateness
B-factors	bfactor_CA_mean/std/skew/kurt/IQR, bfactor_all_heavy_*
Secondary Structure	ss_frac_helix/sheet/coil, ss_n_helix/sheet_segments
Crystallography	unit_cell_a/b/c, unit_cell_alpha/beta/gamma

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2. {stem}_per_residue_features.csv

The richest output: ~120 columns × N residue rows. Powers residue-level ML models, Ramachandran analysis, and hotspot prediction.

Click to expand all feature groups

Feature Group	Columns	Insight
Identity	chain, resnum, resname, one_letter, residue_class	Residue location and type
SASA	sasa_total, sasa_backbone, sasa_sidechain, sasa_relative, is_buried, is_surface	Solvent exposure; buried core vs. surface
Secondary Structure	ss_code (H/E/–)	DSSP-style assignment per residue
Backbone dihedrals	phi_deg, psi_deg, omega_deg	Ramachandran coordinates; cis-peptide detection
Side-chain dihedrals	chi1_deg, chi2_deg	Rotamer state; side-chain packing
Contacts (CA, 8 Å)	n_contacts_CA, n_short/medium/long_contacts, mean_contact_dist	Packing density
Contacts (heavy, 5 Å)	n_contacts_heavy5	Tight atomic packing
Hydrophobic contacts	n_hydrophobic_contacts	Hydrophobic core membership
Hydrogen bonds	n_hbond_donor, n_hbond_acceptor, n_hbond_total	H-bond network contribution
Salt bridges	n_salt_bridges	Electrostatic stabilisation
Disulfide bonds	in_disulfide, ss_partner_chain, ss_partner_resnum	Covalent cross-links
π–π stacking	n_pipi_stacking	Aromatic interactions
Cation–π	n_cation_pi	Electrostatic aromatic contacts
Backbone geometry	bond_CA_N, bond_CA_C, bond_C_O, angle_N_CA_C, angle_CA_C_O, ca_displacement	Structural quality; distortion detection
B-factors	bfactor_res_mean/max/std, bfactor_backbone, bfactor_sidechain	Residue flexibility
Network centrality	network_degree, network_betweenness_centrality, network_closeness_centrality, network_eigenvector_centrality, network_clustering_coeff	Structural & allosteric hubs
Water contacts	n_water_contacts, min_water_dist_A	Hydration shell
Neighbour composition	nbr_frac_aliphatic, nbr_frac_aromatic, nbr_frac_polar_uncharged, nbr_frac_*charged	Residue microenvironment
Physicochemical	hydrophobicity_KD, hydrophobicity_Eisenberg, vdw_volume, residue_mw, formal_charge	Biophysical properties

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3. {stem}_per_atom_features.csv

One row per heavy atom. Includes element, VdW radius, mass, B-factor, occupancy, and 3D coordinates. Ideal for atomic-resolution analyses and graph neural network atom-node featurisation.

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4. {stem}_per_chain_features.csv

One row per polypeptide chain. Aggregated from per-residue data: length, composition, mean SASA, mean B-factor, secondary-structure fractions, net charge, and mean hydrophobicity.

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5. {stem}_interactions.csv

Every detected pairwise non-covalent interaction. Columns: interaction_type, chain1, resnum1, resname1, atom1, chain2, resnum2, resname2, atom2, distance_A.

Supported interaction types:

Type	Geometric Criterion
hydrogen_bond	N–O donor–acceptor distance ≤ 3.5 Å
disulfide	Cys SG–SG distance ≤ 2.2 Å
salt_bridge	Oppositely charged atom distance ≤ 4.0 Å
pi_pi_stacking	Ring centroid distance ≤ 7.0 Å; ring-plane angle ≤ 30°
cation_pi	Cationic atom within 6.0 Å of ring centroid
hydrophobic_contact	Hydrophobic residue CA–CA distance ≤ 5.0 Å

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6. {stem}_ss_segments.csv

One row per declared secondary structure element (HELIX or SHEET PDB record). Columns: element_type, helix_id/sheet_id, chain, start, end, length, helix_type, sense, n_residues_in_segment, mean_bfactor.

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7. {stem}_distance_matrix.csv

Full upper-triangle CA–CA pairwise distance matrix in long format. Columns: chain1, resnum1, resname1, chain2, resnum2, resname2, ca_dist_A, seq_separation. Essential for contact-map visualisation and distance-map ML models.

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8. {stem}_extraction_summary.txt

Human-readable provenance report: PDB metadata, composition summary, shape descriptors, secondary structure fractions, output file manifest, extraction time, and ISO timestamp.

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📦 Dependencies

biopython>=1.79
numpy>=1.21
pandas>=1.3
scipy>=1.7
networkx>=2.6
freesasa>=2.1
pydssp>=0.8
tqdm>=4.60

Install via:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Or install individually:

pip install biopython numpy pandas scipy networkx freesasa pydssp tqdm

Note: freesasa provides Python bindings to the FreeSASA C library. On some platforms you may need to install system-level build tools (gcc, make) if a binary wheel is unavailable.

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🔬 Applications

🤖 Machine Learning Feature Engineering

The per-residue CSV provides a ready-made feature matrix for residue-level classifiers (solvent exposure prediction, secondary structure assignment, binding-site detection). The global CSV is a molecular fingerprint for protein-level regressors (melting temperature, solubility, enzyme activity).

🧪 Structural Quality Assessment

B-factor distributions, Ramachandran outlier rates, and backbone bond-length deviations benchmark experimental structures or computationally predicted models (AlphaFold, RoseTTAFold) against high-resolution references.

🔁 Comparative Proteomics

Running StructuraMiner across a family of homologous structures generates aligned feature tables for evolutionary analysis: conservation in the buried core, secondary-structure content variation with thermostability, and more.

💊 Drug Discovery and Binding-Site Mapping

SITE records, interaction network topology, and SASA values combinedly pinpoint druggable pockets: surface-exposed cavities with local hydrophobicity, enriched in aromatic or charged residues, served by high-centrality hub residues.

⚙️ Protein Engineering and Stability Optimisation

Salt-bridge counts, disulfide-bond maps, packing ratios, and hydrophobic-contact density guide rational engineering campaigns. The distance matrix enables loop-modelling and linker-design decisions.

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🧠 Biological Significance of Key Features

Solvent-Accessible Surface Area (SASA)

Computed by FreeSASA using the Lee–Richards rolling-probe algorithm. Relative SASA (rSASA) classifies each residue as:

• Buried (rSASA < 0.25): hydrophobic core, critical for stability
• Surface-exposed (rSASA > 0.40): drives interaction specificity

Backbone Dihedral Angles (φ, ψ, ω)

φ/ψ define Ramachandran space: allowed regions correspond to α-helices (−60°, −45°), β-strands (−120°, 120°), and left-handed helices. ω near 180° indicates trans-peptide; deviations flag rare cis-peptide bonds with functional significance (enzyme active sites, proline isomerisation).

Protein Contact Network Centrality

A CB–CB contact graph (< 8 Å) is constructed and five centrality metrics computed per residue:

• Degree centrality: number of direct contacts
• Betweenness centrality: residues acting as communication hubs
• Closeness centrality: proximity to all other residues
• Eigenvector centrality: influence in the global contact network
• Clustering coefficient: local network density

High-betweenness and high-eigenvector residues are structural/allosteric hubs — prime targets for mutagenesis and drug design.

Isoelectric Point (pI) Estimation

Computed via 150-iteration Henderson–Hasselbalch bisection accounting for all ionisable side chains (Asp, Glu, His, Cys, Tyr, Lys, Arg) and terminal charges. pI governs solubility, crystallisability, and interaction propensity at physiological pH.

Non-Covalent Interactions

The interactions CSV enumerates every detected non-covalent contact. Key contributions:

• Hydrogen bonds: stabilise secondary structure and enzyme active sites
• Salt bridges: contribute 1–5 kcal/mol per pair to thermostability
• π–π stacking: major contributors to protein–ligand binding affinity
• Cation–π interactions: key in protein–protein and protein–DNA recognition

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⚠️ Limitations and Notes

• Multi-model PDB files (e.g. NMR ensembles): only model 0 (first MODEL block) is processed. Split the file beforehand to analyse all models.
• Hydrogen-bond detection uses a simplified distance criterion (donor–acceptor ≤ 3.5 Å) rather than explicit H-atom placement. For high-precision H-bond enumeration, preprocess with Reduce or MolProbity.
• pI estimation uses standard solution-phase pKa values. Microenvironment shifts (buried titratable residues, metal coordination) are not modelled.
• CA distance matrix has O(N²) size. For large structures (> 2,000 residues), consider filtering by seq_separation or distance threshold for downstream use.
• FreeSASA and pyDSSP require well-formatted ATOM records. Heavily non-standard PDB files may produce None values in affected columns, which are preserved in the CSV.

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📁 Repository Structure

StructuraMiner/
├── structuraminer.py                  # Main script — entire framework in one file
├── requirements.txt             # Python dependencies
├── LICENSE                      # MIT License
├── README.md                    # This file
├── StructuraMiner_UserManual.pdf   # Full user manual (2–3 pages)
└── StructuraMiner_workflow.png     # Publication-grade workflow diagram

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📊 Example Output (excerpt)

Per-residue features (first 5 columns of many):

chain	resnum	resname	ss_code	sasa_relative	phi_deg	psi_deg	n_contacts_CA	network_betweenness_centrality
A	1	MET	-	0.81	None	152.3	4	0.0012
A	2	ALA	H	0.12	-62.1	-41.5	9	0.0034
A	3	LEU	H	0.08	-58.7	-43.2	11	0.0041
A	4	GLU	H	0.63	-61.3	-39.8	7	0.0019

Global features (subset):

mw_da	pI_approx	radius_of_gyration_A	ss_frac_helix	ss_frac_sheet	frac_hydrophobic	net_charge_pH7
14307.2	6.84	11.23	0.412	0.183	0.342	-2

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🔖 Citation

If you use StructuraMiner in your research, please cite:

@software{StructuraMiner2026,
  author  = {Love Kaushik},
  title   = {StructuraMiner: Exhaustive Structural Feature Extraction from PDB Files},
  version = {1.0.0},
  year    = {2026},
  url     = {https://github.com/lovekaushik899/StructuraMiner.git},
  license = {MIT}
}

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions, feature requests, and bug reports are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add new feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/my-new-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

Please open an issue first for major changes to discuss the proposed approach.

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

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