PepBind: a comprehensive database and computational tool for analysis of protein-peptide interactions

Protein-peptide interactions, where one partner is a globular protein (domain) and the other is a flexible linear peptide, are key components of cellular processes predominantly in signaling and regulatory networks, hence are prime targets for drug design. To derive the details of the protein-peptide interaction mechanism is often a cumbersome task, though it can be made easier with the availability of specific databases and tools. The Peptide Binding Protein Database (PepBind) is a curated and searchable repository of the structures, sequences and experimental observations of 3100 protein-peptide complexes. The web interface contains a computational tool, protein inter-chain interaction (PICI), for computing several types of weak or strong interactions at the protein-peptide interaction interface and visualizing the identified interactions between residues in Jmol viewer. This initial database release focuses on providing protein-peptide interface information along with structure and sequence information for protein-peptide complexes deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Structures in PepBind are classified based on their cellular activity. More than 40% of the structures in the database are found to be involved in different regulatory pathways and nearly 20% in the immune system. These data indicate the importance of protein-peptide complexes in the regulation of cellular processes.