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Updated: May 6, 2026

De novo Identification of Actively Translated Open Reading Frames with Ribosome Profiling Data
Published on: February 18, 2022
uORFdb--a comprehensive literature database on eukaryotic uORF biology
Klaus Wethmar1, Adriano Barbosa-Silva, Miguel A Andrade-Navarro
1Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Cell Differentiation and Tumorigenesis, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, D-13092 Berlin, Germany, Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Schwanebecker Chaussee 50, D-13125 Berlin, Germany, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Computational Biology and Data Mining, Robert-Rössle-Strasse 10, D-13092 Berlin, Germany and Humoldt-University, Department of Biology, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Approximately half of all human transcripts contain at least one upstream translational initiation site that precedes the main coding sequence (CDS) and gives rise to an upstream open reading frame (uORF). We generated uORFdb, publicly available at http://cbdm.mdc-berlin.de/tools/uorfdb, to serve as a comprehensive literature database on eukaryotic uORF biology. Upstream ORFs affect downstream translation by interfering with the unrestrained progression of ribosomes across the transcript leader sequence. Although the first uORF-related translational activity was observed >30 years ago, and an increasing number of studies link defective uORF-mediated translational control to the development of human diseases, the features that determine uORF-mediated regulation of downstream translation are not well understood. The uORFdb was manually curated from all uORF-related literature listed at the PubMed database. It categorizes individual publications by a variety of denominators including taxon, gene and type of study. Furthermore, the database can be filtered for multiple structural and functional uORF-related properties to allow convenient and targeted access to the complex field of eukaryotic uORF biology.
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