AUTHOR=Maria Maxime , Guillaume Valentin , Guionnière Simon , Dacquay Nicolas , Plateau–Holleville Cyprien , Larroque Vincent , Lardé Jean , Naimi Yassine , Piquemal Jean-Philip , Levieux Guillaume , Lagarde Nathalie , Mérillou Stéphane , Montes Matthieu 

TITLE=Interactive visualization of large molecular systems with VTX: example with a minimal whole-cell model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioinformatics

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioinformatics/articles/10.3389/fbinf.2025.1588661

DOI=10.3389/fbinf.2025.1588661

ISSN=2673-7647

ABSTRACT=VTX is an open-source molecular visualization software designed to overcome the scaling limitations of existing real-time molecular visualization software when handling massive molecular datasets. VTX employs a meshless molecular graphics engine utilizing impostor-based techniques and adaptive level-of-detail (LOD) rendering. This approach significantly reduces memory usage and enables real-time visualization and manipulation of large molecular systems. Performance benchmarks against VMD, PyMOL, and ChimeraX using a 114-million-bead Martini minimal whole-cell model demonstrate VTX’s efficiency, maintaining consistent frame rates even under interactive manipulation on standard computer hardware. VTX incorporates features such as Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) for enhanced depth perception and free-fly navigation for intuitive exploration of large molecular systems. VTX is open-source and free for non commercial use. Binaries for Windows and Ubuntu Linux are available at http://vtx.drugdesign.fr. VTX source code is available at https://github.com/VTX-Molecular-Visualization.