Motivation: A variety of tools are available to predict the topology of transmembrane proteins. To date no independent evaluation of the performance of these tools has been published. A better ...understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the different tools would guide both the biologist and the bioinformatician to make better predictions of membrane protein topology. Results: Here we present an evaluation of the performance of the currently best known and most widely used methods for the prediction of transmembrane regions in proteins. Our results show that TMHMM is currently the best performing transmembrane prediction program. Contact: moeller@ebi.ac.uk; croning@ebi.ac.uk; apweiler@ebi.ac.uk
G2Cdb: the Genes to Cognition database Croning, Mike D.R; Marshall, Michael C; McLaren, Peter ...
Nucleic acids research,
01/2009, Letnik:
37, Številka:
suppl-1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Neuroscience databases linking genes, proteins, (patho)physiology, anatomy and behaviour across species will be valuable in a broad range of studies of the nervous system. G2Cdb is such a ...neuroscience database aiming to present a global view of the role of synapse proteins in physiology and disease. G2Cdb warehouses sets of genes and proteins experimentally elucidated by proteomic mass spectroscopy of signalling complexes and proteins biochemically isolated from mammalian synapse preparations, giving an experimentally validated definition of the constituents of the mammalian synapse. Using automated text-mining and expert (human) curation we have systematically extracted information from published neurobiological studies in the fields of synaptic signalling electrophysiology and behaviour in knockout and other transgenic mice. We have also surveyed the human genetics literature for associations to disease caused by mutations in synaptic genes. The synapse proteome datasets that G2Cdb provides offer a basis for future work in synapse biology and provide useful information on brain diseases. They have been integrated in a such way that investigators can rapidly query whether a gene or protein is found in brain-signalling complex(es), has a phenotype in rodent models or whether mutations are associated with a human disease. G2Cdb can be freely accessed at http://www.genes2cognition.org.
We created SynSysNet, available online at http://bioinformatics.charite.de/synsysnet, to provide a platform that creates a comprehensive 4D network of synaptic interactions. Neuronal synapses are ...fundamental structures linking nerve cells in the brain and they are responsible for neuronal communication and information processing. These processes are dynamically regulated by a network of proteins. New developments in interaction proteomics and yeast two-hybrid methods allow unbiased detection of interactors. The consolidation of data from different resources and methods is important to understand the relation to human behaviour and disease and to identify new therapeutic approaches. To this end, we established SynSysNet from a set of ∼1000 synapse specific proteins, their structures and small-molecule interactions. For two-thirds of these, 3D structures are provided (from Protein Data Bank and homology modelling). Drug-target interactions for 750 approved drugs and 50 000 compounds, as well as 5000 experimentally validated protein-protein interactions, are included. The resulting interaction network and user-selected parts can be viewed interactively and exported in XGMML. Approximately 200 involved pathways can be explored regarding drug-target interactions. Homology-modelled structures are downloadable in Protein Data Bank format, and drugs are available as MOL-files. Protein-protein interactions and drug-target interactions can be viewed as networks; corresponding PubMed IDs or sources are given.
We present here a draft genome sequence of the red jungle fowl, Gallus gallus. Because the chicken is a modern descendant of the dinosaurs and the first non-mammalian amniote to have its genome ...sequenced, the draft sequence of its genomecomposed of approximately one billion base pairs of sequence and an estimated 20,000-23,000 genes-provides a new perspective on vertebrate genome evolution, while also improving the annotation of mammalian genomes. For example, the evolutionary distance between chicken and human provides high specificity in detecting functional elements, both non-coding and coding. Notably, many conserved non-coding sequences are far from genes and cannot be assigned to defined functional classes. In coding regions the evolutionary dynamics of protein domains and orthologous groups illustrate processes that distinguish the lineages leading to birds and mammals. The distinctive properties of avian microchromosomes, together with the inferred patterns of conserved synteny, provide additional insights into vertebrate chromosome architecture.
We present an analysis of the chicken (Gallus gallus) transcriptome based on the full insert sequences for 19,626 cDNAs, combined with 485,337 EST sequences. The cDNA data set has been functionally ...annotated and describes a minimum of 11,929 chicken coding genes, including the sequence for 2260 full-length cDNAs together with a collection of noncoding (nc) cDNAs that have been stringently filtered to remove untranslated regions of coding mRNAs. The combined collection of cDNAs and ESTs describe 62,546 clustered transcripts and provide transcriptional evidence for a total of 18,989 chicken genes, including 88% of the annotated Ensembl gene set. Analysis of the ncRNAs reveals a set that is highly conserved in chickens and mammals, including sequences for 14 pri-miRNAs encoding 23 different miRNAs. The data sets described here provide a transcriptome toolkit linked to physical clones for bioinformaticians and experimental biologists who wish to use chicken systems as a low-cost, accessible alternative to mammals for the analysis of vertebrate development, immunology, and cell biology.
Differences in general cognitive ability (intelligence) account for approximately half of the variation in any large battery of cognitive tests and are predictive of important life events including ...health. Genome-wide analyses of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms indicate that they jointly tag between a quarter and a half of the variance in intelligence. However, no single polymorphism has been reliably associated with variation in intelligence. It remains possible that these many small effects might be aggregated in networks of functionally linked genes. Here, we tested a network of 1461 genes in the postsynaptic density and associated complexes for an enriched association with intelligence. These were ascertained in 3511 individuals (the Cognitive Ageing Genetics in England and Scotland (CAGES) consortium) phenotyped for general cognitive ability, fluid cognitive ability, crystallised cognitive ability, memory and speed of processing. By analysing the results of a genome wide association study (GWAS) using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, a significant enrichment was found for fluid cognitive ability for the proteins found in the complexes of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor complex; P=0.002. Replication was sought in two additional cohorts (N=670 and 2062). A meta-analytic P-value of 0.003 was found when these were combined with the CAGES consortium. The results suggest that genetic variation in the macromolecular machines formed by membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) scaffold proteins and their interaction partners contributes to variation in intelligence.
The breakdown in brain ionic homeostasis during energy deprivation (anoxic depolarization AD) is intimately linked to neuronal injury. We studied the role of one particular route of Na
+ influx, ...voltage-sensitive Na
+ channels, in the AD induced by O
2 and/or glucose deprivation. We recorded extracellular Na
+ concentration (Na
+
e) and direct current potential (DCP) in the CA1 stratum pyramidale of hippocampal slices using Na
+-selective microelectrodes. Tetrodotoxin (0.1–1 μM) delayed the occurrence of AD and reduced the peak change in both Na
+
e and DCP during AD. However the tetrodotoxin effects were overcome by a concomitant reduction in extracellular glucose during anoxia. We conclude that: (1) the activation of voltage-gated Na
+ channels is involved in the triggering of AD; (2) there may be a critical level of energy depletion when AD occurs and different mechanisms may underlie AD during hypoxia, compared to O
2 and glucose deprivation.
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