Developing protein structure figures.

Scientific figures not only complement articles but can enhance them. In this third TrendsTalk of the Special series: Scientific figure development, previous TIBS authors focus on different approaches to creating protein structure figures, considering questions such as: how do you decide how to represent your protein structure? What programs do you prefer and why? What aspects do you consider when generating a protein structure figure? Contributing to this article are Clemens Grimm, co-corresponding author of 'Cytoplasmic gene expression: lessons from poxviruses' [1] (Figure 2, for example); Bin Liu, corresponding author of 'Roles of zinc-binding domain of bacterial RNA polymerase in transcription' [2] (Figure 2 and others); Vanessa Flegler, first author of 'More than just closed and open: unraveling a mechanosensor' [3] (Figure 1); and Jeong Joo Kim, first author of 'Direct structural insights into GABAA receptor pharmacology' [4] (Figure 3)