MSMS

Fast computation of molecular surfaces

MSMS is a fast algorithm for computing molecular surfaces. Michel Sanner developed it as part of his Ph.D. thesis. It has been widely used to compute and display the solvent excluded surface (SES) of proteins. This surface is also known as the Lee and Richards surface, after the authors who first defined it by rolling a probe sphere, representing a solvent molecule, over the spheres representing the protein atoms. It is also called the Connolly surface, after Mike Connolly, who wrote the first program to compute it analytically.

MSMS is used by several molecular visualization programs, including VMD, Chimera and our own PMV. It is available as a standalone program, and as a library with Python bindings in the MGLTools and ADFRsuite distributions.

Note

MSMS is free for non-commercial use, under the Sannerlab MIT-like Source-Available License. Commercial use needs a separate license; see License.

Reduced surface of a molecule: a triangulated polyhedron connecting atom centers

MSMS illustration: reduced surface

MSMS illustration: molecular surface construction

MSMS illustration: a singular case

Probe sphere and a reentrant face of the solvent excluded surface

Probe sphere, atoms and a toric reentrant face of the solvent excluded surface

Contact and reentrant faces of the solvent excluded surface over a ring of atoms

How to cite

If you use MSMS in your work, please cite:

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