Like all membrane proteins, determination the structure of an olfactory receptor poses several challenges. Computational methodologies to determine OR structure with increasing levels of refinement and ingenuity have been adopted by the community for more than a decade. These methodologies and protocols include creating a computational structure of an olfactory receptor protein, computationally binding an odorant molecule in the OR binding pocket. The current state of the art involves performing long-term dynamic simulations of OR-odorant interactions, with simulated plasma membrane and in a hydrated environment. The dynamics often are all-atom and without constraints.

ORModelDB is a resource that is a repository of the results of the efforts of the community is computationally elucidating the structure of the olfactory receptor with a view to establishing a mechanistic basis for OR-odorant binding.

In this resource are deposited computationally determined OR structures, and downloadable figure and movie files representing the interactions of ORs and odorants. ORModelDB is closely integrated with its sister resources, ORDB and OdorDB