The complex portal--an encyclopaedia of macromolecular complexes

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Protein complexes are crucial for cellular functions.
• Existing resources often lack comprehensive, integrated data on protein complexes.
• Manual curation and standardization are needed for reliable complex information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Complex Portal, a manually curated, open-source database of protein complexes.
• To provide a searchable and downloadable resource for protein complex data.
• To integrate data from multiple reputable sources for enhanced biological insights.

Main Methods:

• Creation of a manually curated database, the Complex Portal.
• Collaboration with bioinformatics services and data integration from ChEMBL, MatrixDB, PDBe, Reactome, and UniProtKB.
• Annotation of complexes with molecular participants, stoichiometry, topology, function, and Gene Ontology (GO) terms.

Main Results:

• The Complex Portal provides detailed information on protein complexes, including participating molecules, structure, and function.
• Data is annotated with GO terms and uses consistent nomenclature with synonyms.
• The resource utilizes the Evidence Code Ontology to distinguish direct experimental evidence from inferred data.

Conclusions:

• The Complex Portal is a valuable, freely accessible resource for researchers studying protein complexes.
• It facilitates data retrieval through various standard identifiers and names.
• The resource will be continuously updated and expanded to include more organisms and data.