interface_report
Measure protein-protein interface size by buried surface area and identify which residues form it, ranking them by buried surface and residue chemistry.
Instructions
Measures how large a protein-protein interface is, and which residues form it.
Reports buried surface area — the standard measure of how much of a complex is actually complex — by comparing each chain's solvent-accessible area free and bound. Also ranks the residues by how much surface each buries, and breaks the interface down by residue chemistry.
Interpretation: a per-side area under ~400 A^2 is usually a crystal packing contact rather than a biological interface, while over ~1000 A^2 indicates a substantial, likely specific association. These are guides from PDB-wide surveys, not a verdict — small biological interfaces exist.
For the interactions themselves — which pairs hydrogen bond, which form
salt bridges — use contact_report on the same two chains.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| chain_a | Yes | First chain ID (e.g. "A"). | |
| chain_b | Yes | Second chain ID (e.g. "D"). | |
| obj_name | Yes | PyMOL object holding the complex (e.g. "1brs"). | |
| max_residues | No | How many of the most-buried residues to list per chain. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |