The Bioinformatics Core will work closely with the major users by providing a customized laboratory sample tracking system, an efficient and quick data pipeline, a tailored project management system, and a web portal to facilitate sharing of experimental results. The Core will convert the data acquired from a range of mass spectrometric platforms into qualitative and quantitative information to address the questions posed by our users. Besides facilitating the analysis of the data for the users using a range of commercial software, several new bioinformatics tools will be created to benefit both local users and the broader neuroscience communities. We will continue the development of NeuroPred, a currently available web-based tool that predicts prohormone cleavages and the resulting signaling peptides. This predictor provides a valuable link between genetic information coding for the protein prohormones and the peptide products one observes. NeuroProSightPTM is another important bioinformatics tool that identifies post-translational modifications in intact proteins from """"""""top-down"""""""" data analysis of absolute masses. The top-down approach will enable investigators to use absolute masses of intact proteins to identify neuropeptides, cytokines, hormones, and other neuron-specific proteins and peptides. Lastly, a unique method of shot-gun peptidomics that combines bioinformatics tools and high accuracy mass measurements will enhance peptide characterization and identification, and will be used across a range of important neuroscience models. Together, the well-planned experiments, existing tools, and new bioinformatics capabilities will create novel approaches and new data on the intercellular signaling molecules found in the brain.
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