9630936 CHAIT This project will facilitate the use of mass spectrometry in biology and protein chemistry by developing a national relational database for the mass spectra of proteins. The database, named "MassBank", will include the mass spectra of intact proteins, peptides generated by enzymatic digestion of proteins, and ion products produced by mass spectrometric fragmentation of peptides. The mass spectra (both published and unpublished) will be submitted by researchers in the mass spectrometric and biological communities. Tools will be provided to search and analyze the mass spectra in the database and to identify proteins using mass spectral data, and to obtain all available information about any given protein or its corresponding gene. To enhance the utility of the database, a wide range of information about proteins from other databases will be made easily available during the process of examination of the mass spectral data. This information will include amino acid sequences, post-translational modifications, three dimensional structures, literature references, and positions on two-dimensional gels. Tools will be provided to analyze the primary structure of proteins with reference to the mass spectra in the database. The database will be publicly accessible through a World Wide Web server. All submissions, searches, and analysis of mass spectra will be done by filling out Hyper Text Markup Language forms. The introduction of this new database will greatly facilitate the identification and characterization of mature gene products -- and hence provide an important tool for biologists and protein chemists.
