Human Protein Reference Database—2009 update

Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD—http://www.hprd.org/), initially described in 2003, is a database of curated proteomic information pertaining to human proteins. We have recently added a number of new features in HPRD. These include PhosphoMotif Finder, which allows users to find the presence of over 320 experimentally verified phosphorylation motifs in proteins of interest. Another new feature is a protein distributed annotation system—Human Proteinpedia (http://www.humanproteinpedia.org/)—through which laboratories can submit their data, which is mapped onto protein entries in HPRD. Over 75 laboratories involved in proteomics research have already participated in this effort by submitting data for over 15 000 human proteins. The submitted data includes mass spectrometry and protein microarray-derived data, among other data types. Finally, HPRD is also linked to a compendium of human signaling pathways developed by our group, NetPath (http://www.netpath.org/), which currently contains annotations for several cancer and immune signaling pathways. Since the last update, more than 5500 new protein sequences have been added, making HPRD a comprehensive resource for studying the human proteome.