The Proteolysis Map

PMAP logo

The Proteolysis MAP (PMAP) is an integrated web resource focused on proteases.

Rationale

PMAP is to aid the protease researchers in reasoning about proteolytic networks and pathways.

History & Funding

PMAP was originally created at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, California. In 2004 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected a team led by Jeffrey W. Smith, Ph.D., to establish the Center on Proteolytic Pathways (CPP). As part of the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical research, the center develops technology to study the behavior of proteins and to disburse that knowledge to the scientific community at large. Funding: National Institutes of Health (RR020843, CA108959 GenBank , CA30199). Funding for open access charge: National Institutes of Health (RR020843, CA108959 GenBank , CA30199).

Focal point

Proteases are a class of enzymes that regulate much of what happens in the human body, both inside the cell and out, by cleaving peptide bonds in proteins. Extensive on-line classification system for proteases (also referred as peptidases) is deposited in MEROPS database. Through this activity, they govern the four essential cell functions: differentiation, motility, division and cell death — and activate important extracelluar episodes, such as the biochemical cascade effect in blood clotting. Simply stated, life could not exist without them.

The goal

Proteolytic pathways, or proteolysis, are the series of events controlled by proteases that occur in response to specific stimuli. In addition to the clotting of blood, the production of insulin can be viewed as a proteolytic pathway, as the activation, regulation and inhibition of that protein is the result of proteases reacting to changing glucose levels and triggering other proteases downstream.

Database Content

PMAP integrates five databases (DBs), linked together in one environment. (1)ProteaseDB and (2)SubstrateDB, are driven by an automated annotation pipeline that generates dynamic ‘Molecule Pages’, rich in molecular information. (3)CutDB has information on more than 6,600 proteolytic events, and (4)ProfileDB is dedicated to information of the substrate recognition specificity of proteases. (5)PathwayDB, just begun accumulation of pathways whose function can be dynamically modeled in a rule-based manner. Hypothetical networks are inferred by semi-automated culling of the literature. Additionally, protease software tools are available for the analysis of individual proteases and proteome-wide data sets.

Usage

Popular destinations in PMAP are Protease Molecule Pages and Substrate Molecule Pages. Protease Molecule Pages show recent news in PubMed literature of the protease, known proteolytic events, protein domain location and protein structure view, as well as a cross annotation in other bioinformatic databases section. Substrate Molecule Pages display protein domains and experimental protease cut sites for a given protein target of interest.

PMAP disambiguation

The Proteolysis Map (PMAP) should not be confused with other acronyms:

Acronyms:

• List of eleven (11) different PMAP acronym and definitions

Individual protein names:

• PMAP (porcine myeloid antimicrobial peptides), such as PMAP-23, PMAP-36; PMAP-37

Management & organizations:

• FDA Pilot Multi-Purpose Audit Program (PMAP)
• Performance Management Appraisal Plan (PMAP) Form
• Project Management Association of Professionals (PMAP)
• Practice Management (PMAP)
• The Prepaid Medical Assistance Program (PMAP)

Products:

• Mono-Ammonium Phosphate Fertilizer (PMAP)

UNIX/Linux/Basic commands:

• User Commands pmap(1)
• pmap - report memory map of a process
• Basic Command : PMAP

SUN port mapper:

• The Port Mapper (PMAP) protocol

External links

• Official website
• Host institution website
• Proteolysis Cut Site database - curated expert annotation from users
• Protease cut sites graphical interface
• Protease cutting predictor
• List of proteases and their specificities
• International Proteolysis Society
• Merops - the peptidase database
• List of protease inhibitors
• Proteases at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

See also

• Proteolysis
• Protease
• Metabolic pathway
• Cytoscape
• Computational genomics
• Metabolic network modelling
• Protein-protein interaction prediction
• Autophagy network
• SUMO network