PreprintCited by 9,391Protein Structure and DynamicsMachine Learning in BioinformaticsEnzyme Structure and Function

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 40 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 19 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

ColabFold - Making protein folding accessible to all

Open access

Preprint — published as 10.1038/s41592-022-01488-1 · Paper page

Abstract

ColabFold offers accelerated protein structure and complex predictions by combining the fast homology search of MMseqs2 with AlphaFold2 or RoseTTAFold. ColabFold’s 40 - 60× faster search and optimized model use allows predicting close to a thousand structures per day on a server with one GPU. Coupled with Google Colaboratory, ColabFold becomes a free and accessible platform for protein folding. ColabFold is open-source software available at github.com/sokrypton/ColabFold . Its novel environmental databases are available at colabfold.mmseqs.com Contact: milot.mirdita@mpibpc.mpg.de , so@fas.harvard.edu , martin.steinegger@snu.ac.kr

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

ColabFold accelerates protein structure and complex prediction by replacing AlphaFold2/RoseTTAFold homology search with MMseqs2, making folding accessible via Google Colaboratory and local command-line tools. It reports 40–60-fold faster MSA generation, ~90-fold batch speed-up, and prediction accuracy matching AlphaFold2 on CASP14 and AlphaFold-multimer on ClusPro.

Key findings

  • ColabFold’s MMseqs2 search is 40–60-fold faster than AlphaFold2’s homology search, and batch prediction is ~90-fold faster by avoiding recompilation and adding early stopping; this enables close to 1,000 structures per day on one GPU.
  • On CASP14 free-modeling targets, mean TM-scores were 0.826 for ColabFold-AlphaFold2-BFD/MGnify, 0.818 for ColabFold-AlphaFold2-ColabFoldDB, 0.79 for AlphaFold2, 0.744 for AlphaFold-Colab, and 0.62 for ColabFold-RoseTTAFold-BFD/MGnify. Over all CASP14 targets, TM-scores were 0.887, 0.886, 0.888, and 0.754 for the respective methods excluding AlphaFold-Colab.
  • ColabFold achieved the highest accuracy for complex prediction on the ClusPro dataset with the AlphaFold-multimer model, though some targets performed better using residue-index mode.
  • The 1,762-protein *Methanocaldococcus jannaschii* proteome (proteins <1,000 amino acids) was predicted in 48 h on one Nvidia Titan RTX with early stopping at pLDDT ≥85; average pLDDTs for AlphaFold2 and ColabFold Stop ≥85 were 89.75 and 88.78 in a subsampled set of 50 proteins.

Methods

  • ColabFold combines an MMseqs2-based homology search server with AlphaFold2 or RoseTTAFold; it searches UniRef100/UniRef30, PDB70, and either BFD/MGnify or ColabFoldDB, using a diversity-aware filter and optional MSA pairing for complexes.
  • Benchmarks included 65 CASP14 targets containing 91 domains (20 free-modeling targets with 28 domains), 17 ClusPro complex targets evaluated with DockQ, and the *M. jannaschii* proteome; predictions were compared to experimental structures using TM-align and DockQ.
  • Run-time measurements separated MSA generation and model inference, using specified CPU/GPU systems; ColabFold modes were executed without templates for benchmarking.

Limitations

  • The paper states limitations of Google Colaboratory and provides the `colabfold_batch` command-line tool for tasks too large for Colab; it also notes AlphaFold-Colab cannot be used as a standalone and was excluded from the all-CASP14-target comparison.
  • Evident from the text: ColabFold benchmarks were run without templates, so template-enabled performance is not directly benchmarked; free-modeling CASP14 targets were used to optimize MMseqs2 search parameters, which may make those results optimistic.
  • Evident from the text: validation is limited to CASP14, ClusPro, and one proteome, so generalization to other target classes or larger proteomes is not established here.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1101/2021.08.15.456425

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of ColabFold. a,b, ColabFold has a web and a command line interface (a) that send FASTA input sequence(s) to an MMseqs2 server (b) searching two databases, UniRef100 and a database of environmental sequences, with three profile-search iterations each. The second database is searched using a sequence profile generated from the UniRef100 search as input. The server generates two MSAs in A3M format containing all detected sequences. c, For predictions of single structures (i) we filter both A3Ms using a diversity-aware filter and return this to be provided as the MSA input feature to the AlphaFold2 models. For predictions of complexes (ii) we pair the top hits within the same species to resolve the inter-chain contacts and additionally add two unpaired MSAs (same as i) to guide the structure prediction. Single chain predictions are ranked by pLDDT and complexes by predicted TM-score. d, To help researchers judge the prediction quality we visualize MSA depth and diversity and show the AlphaFold2 confidence measures (pLDDT and PAE).
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of ColabFold. a,b, ColabFold has a web and a command line interface (a) that send FASTA input sequence(s) to an MMseqs2 server (b) searching two databases, UniRef100 and a database of environmental sequences, with three profile-search iterations each. The second database is searched using a sequence profile generated from the UniRef100 search as input. The server generates two MSAs in A3M format containing all detected sequences. c, For predictions of single structures (i) we filter both A3Ms using a diversity-aware filter and return this to be provided as the MSA input feature to the AlphaFold2 models. For predictions of complexes (ii) we pair the top hits within the same species to resolve the inter-chain contacts and additionally add two unpaired MSAs (same as i) to guide the structure prediction. Single chain predictions are ranked by pLDDT and complexes by predicted TM-score. d, To help researchers judge the prediction quality we visualize MSA depth and diversity and show the AlphaFold2 confidence measures (pLDDT and PAE).CC BY · PubMed Central
Fig. 2 Comparison of predictions for single chains and complexes. a, Structure prediction comparison of AlphaFold2, AlphaFold-Colab and ColabFold-AlphaFold2 with BFD/MGnify and with the ColabFoldDB, and ColabFold-RoseTTAFold with BFD/MGnify using predictions of 91 domains of 65 CASP14 targets. The 28 domains from the 20 free-modeling (FM) targets are shown first. FM targets were used to optimize MMseqs2 search parameters. Each target was evaluated for each individual domain (in total 91 domains). b, MSA generation and model inference times for each CASP14 FM target sorted by protein length (same colors as before). Blue shows MSA run times for ColabFold-AlphaFold2-BFD/MGnify and ColabFold-RoseTTAFold-BFD/MGnify. c, Comparison of multimeric prediction modes in ColabFold and AlphaFold-multimer. The ColabFold modes include residue-index modification with models originally trained for single-chain predictions and those for multimeric prediction from AlphaFold-multimer, using DockQ (a quality measure for protein–protein docking models). d, Run time of colabfold_batch proteome prediction at three optimization levels: always recompile, default, and stop model/recycle evaluation after first prediction with a pLDDT of ≥85. The yellow dashed line represents an extrapolation on the basis of the 50 AlphaFold2 predictions. Source data
Fig. 2 Comparison of predictions for single chains and complexes. a, Structure prediction comparison of AlphaFold2, AlphaFold-Colab and ColabFold-AlphaFold2 with BFD/MGnify and with the ColabFoldDB, and ColabFold-RoseTTAFold with BFD/MGnify using predictions of 91 domains of 65 CASP14 targets. The 28 domains from the 20 free-modeling (FM) targets are shown first. FM targets were used to optimize MMseqs2 search parameters. Each target was evaluated for each individual domain (in total 91 domains). b, MSA generation and model inference times for each CASP14 FM target sorted by protein length (same colors as before). Blue shows MSA run times for ColabFold-AlphaFold2-BFD/MGnify and ColabFold-RoseTTAFold-BFD/MGnify. c, Comparison of multimeric prediction modes in ColabFold and AlphaFold-multimer. The ColabFold modes include residue-index modification with models originally trained for single-chain predictions and those for multimeric prediction from AlphaFold-multimer, using DockQ (a quality measure for protein–protein docking models). d, Run time of colabfold_batch proteome prediction at three optimization levels: always recompile, default, and stop model/recycle evaluation after first prediction with a pLDDT of ≥85. The yellow dashed line represents an extrapolation on the basis of the 50 AlphaFold2 predictions. Source dataCC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

22 Own result · 18 No basis given · 15 Not checked yet · 13 Own interpretation · 2 Own method · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 18 references — free account

Show all 37 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 18
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 17
  • Borderline: one of the tests for a substantial claim is unclear. 1
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 2
34 of 34
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Searches against large environmental databases can take up to hours for a single protein and require more than 2 TB of storage space alone.

    “Due to their large size, searches can take up to hours for a single protein while requiring more than 2 TB of storage space alone.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Executing deep neural networks requires GPUs with large GPU RAM even for ~1,000 residue proteins.

    “Second, to execute the deep neural networks, graphics processing units (GPUs) with a large amount of GPU RAM (random access memory) are required even for relatively common protein sizes of ~1,000 residues.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    For these proteins, MSA generation dominates the overall run time.

    “For these, however, the MSA generation dominates the overall run time.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Eukaryotic protein diversity is not well represented in the databases BFD and MGnify.

    “The environmental search database presented an opportunity to improve structure predictions of non-bacterial sequences given that, for example, eukaryotic protein diversity is not well represented in the databases BFD and MGnify.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Limitations in assembly and gene calling due to complex intron and exon structures result in underrepresentation in reference databases.

    “Limitations in assembly and gene calling due to complex intron and exon structures result in underrepresentation in reference databases.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    AlphaFold2 was initially released without the capability to model protein complexes.

    “AlphaFold2 was initially released without the capability to model protein complexes.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Generating MSAs for AlphaFold2 and RoseTTAFold is a time-consuming task.

    “Generating MSAs for AlphaFold2 and RoseTTAFold is a time-consuming task.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    This type of search requires the database to be indexed and stored in memory.

    “This type of search requires the database to be indexed and stored in memory.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    AlphaFold2 requires more than 2 TB of storage space for its databases, which is a significant hurdle for many researchers.

    “AlphaFold2 requires more than 2 TB of storage space for its databases, which is a significant hurdle for many researchers.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    BFD is a clustered protein database consisting of ~2.2 billion proteins organized in 64 million clusters.

    “BFD is a clustered protein database consisting of ~2.2 billion proteins organized in 64 million clusters.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    MGnify (2019_05) contains ~300 million environmental proteins.

    “MGnify (2019_05) contains ~300 million environmental proteins.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The benchmark datasets used (CASP14 targets, ClusPro targets and the M. jannaschii proteome) are representative of the protein structure prediction tasks ColabFold is intended for.

    “We show with multiple datasets that ColabFold does not sacrifice accuracy for its much faster run times.”
12 of 12

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Citations

Cites

Show all 40 references

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Evans, R. et al. bioRxiv 2021.10.04.463034 (2021).
  2. (2020), Nucleic Acids Res., 48, D570
  3. Delmont, T. O. et al. bioRxiv 2020.10.15.341214 (2020).
  4. Alexander, H. et al. bioRxiv 2021.07.25.453713 (2021).
  5. Mosalaganti, S. et al. bioRxiv 2021.10.26.465776 (2021).

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Metadata

Authors
Mirdita, M., Schütze, K., Moriwaki, Y., Heo, L., Ovchinnikov, S., & Steinegger, M.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (DE)
  • Seoul National University (KR)
  • Collaborative Research Institute for Innovative Microbiology, The University of Tokyo (JP)
  • Michigan State University (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Mirdita, Milot
  • Ovchinnikov, Sergey
  • Steinegger, Martin
Venue
Nature Methods
Publisher
openRxiv
Published
2021-08-15
Volume
19
Issue
6
Pages
679-682
ISSN
1548-7091 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4281790889
Cited by
9,391
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 1465 · 2025: 2293 · 2024: 2715 · 2023: 2017 · 2022: 817 · 2021: 75
FWCI
644.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Nature Methods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (2032259)
  • Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (JP21am0101107)
  • National Research Foundation (2019R1A6A1A10073437)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
  • Seoul National University
  • Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
  • National Research Foundation of Korea (2021-R1C1-C102065, 2019R1A6A1A10073437, 2020M3A9G7103933, 2021R1C1C102065, 2021M3A9I4021220, 2021-M3A9-I4021220, 2020M3‐A9G7‐103933, 2019R1-A6A1-A10073437)
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
  • National Institutes of Health (DP5OD026389)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R21AI156595)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Structure and Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Machine Learning in Bioinformatics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Structural Biology › Enzyme Structure and Function
Keywords
protein structure prediction, protein complex prediction, homology search, MMseqs2, AlphaFold2, RoseTTAFold, Google Colaboratory, GPU acceleration, open source software, environmental databases, ColabFold
MeSH terms
Computers, Proteins, Software, Databases, Factual, Protein Folding

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