placer

Denoise and rebuild atomic coordinates in protein-ligand complexes to generate stochastic ensembles.

2|Updated May 12, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/LiorZ/protein-design-skills --skill placer
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: placer
Source: https://github.com/LiorZ/protein-design-skills/tree/main/skills/placer
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/LiorZ/protein-design-skills --skill placer

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Denoises and rebuilds atomic coordinates in protein-ligand complexes to generate stochastic ensembles that reveal conformational heterogeneity and support refinement, scoring, and validation of binding poses.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • High-resolution refinement: denoise ligand and proximal sidechains to improve pose realism in a bound pocket.
  • Conformational sampling: produce 50-200 ensemble models to analyze pose variability.
  • Validation workflow: assess design or binding site plausibility by reranking poses with per-model scores.
  • Containerized execution: runs inside an Apptainer/Singularity SIF with bundled weights and scripts.

Quick Start

Start PLACER inside the provided container on a ligand-containing complex to generate an ensemble of refined poses.

Frequently Asked Questions about placer

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I refine docking poses and sidechain coordinates in a protein-ligand complex?

Refine docking poses by denoising and rebuilding atomic coordinates for the ligand and proximal sidechains, generating a stochastic ensemble of 50-200 models with per-model scores to validate binding pose realism.

What is conformational ensemble generation for protein design validation?

Conformational ensemble generation produces 50-200 stochastic models from a ligand-containing complex to reveal conformational heterogeneity, allowing you to assess binding site plausibility by reranking poses with per-model scores.

Can I run protein structure refinement inside an Apptainer or Singularity container?

Yes, this refinement process runs inside an Apptainer or Singularity SIF container with bundled weights and scripts, taking ligand-containing PDB or mmCIF inputs and outputting multimodel PDBs.

Do I need to specify fixed ligands or mutations when refining a protein-ligand complex?

You can explicitly specify fixed ligands, mutations, and ligand chemistry as inputs before running the refinement, ensuring the stochastic ensemble generation respects your defined structural constraints.

What is the best way to analyze conformational heterogeneity in ligand-binding pockets?

Analyze conformational heterogeneity by generating a stochastic ensemble of refined poses, which denoises atomic coordinates and provides per-model scores to evaluate pose variability across the binding pocket.

Are there limitations when repacking sidechains for ensemble-based protein design?

This approach requires ligand-containing PDB or mmCIF inputs and execution within an Apptainer or Singularity container, limiting its use to environments supporting containerized workflows.