The proteome browser web portal.

In 2010, the Human Proteome Organization launched the Human Proteome Project (HPP), aimed at identifying and characterizing the proteome of the human body. To support complete coverage, one arm of the project will take a gene- or chromosomal-centric strategy (C-HPP) aimed at identifying at least one protein product from each protein-coding gene. Despite multiple large international biological databases housing genomic and protein data, there is currently no single system that integrates updated pertinent information from each of these data repositories and assembles the information into a searchable format suitable for the type of global proteomics effort proposed by the C-HPP. We have undertaken the goal of producing a data integration and analysis software system and browser for the C-HPP effort and of making data collections from this resource discoverable through metadata repositories, such as Australian National Data Service's Research Data Australia. Here we present our vision and progress toward the goal of developing a comprehensive data integration and analysis software tool that provides a snapshot of currently available proteomic related knowledge around each gene product, which will ultimately assist in analyzing biological function and the study of human physiology in health and disease.

Federated repositories of X-ray diffraction images.

There is a pressing need for the archiving and curation of raw X-ray diffraction data. This information is critical for validation, methods development and improvement of archived structures. However, the relatively large size of these data sets has presented challenges for storage in a single worldwide repository such as the Protein Data Bank archive. This problem can be avoided by using a federated approach, where each institution utilizes its institutional repository for storage, with a discovery service overlaid. Institutional repositories are relatively stable and adequately funded, ensuring persistence. Here, a simple repository solution is described, utilizing Fedora open-source database software and data-annotation and deposition tools that can be deployed at any site cheaply and easily. Data sets and associated metadata from federated repositories are given a unique and persistent handle, providing a simple mechanism for search and retrieval via web interfaces. In addition to ensuring that valuable data is not lost, the provision of raw data has several uses for the crystallographic community. Most importantly, structure determination can only be truly repeated or verified when the raw data are available. Moreover, the availability of raw data is extremely useful for the development of improved methods of image analysis and data processing.