A protein structure is determined by X-ray diffraction from a protein crystal, i.e. an infinite lattice of molecules. Thus the end result of the diffraction experiment is a crystal lattice and not just a single molecule. However the PDB file only contains the coordinates of the Asymmetric Unit (AU), defined as the minimum unit needed to reconstruct the full crystal using symmetry operators.

Looking at the AU alone is not enough to understand the crystal structure. For instance the biologically relevant assembly (known as the Biological Unit) can occur through a symmetry operator that can be found looking at the crystal contacts. See for instance [1M4N](http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore.do?structureId=1M4N): its biological unit is a dimer that happens through a 2-fold operator and is the largest interface found in the crystal.

Looking at crystal contacts can also be important in order to assess the quality and reliability of the deposited PDB model: an AU can look perfectly fine but then upon reconstruction of the lattice the molecules can be clashing, which indicates that something is wrong in the model.