PSINDB: A comprehensive database of postsynaptic protein-protein interactions

Abstract

The postsynaptic region is the receiving part of the synapse comprising thousands of proteins forming an elaborate and dynamically changing network indispensable for the molecular mechanisms behind fundamental phenomena such as learning and memory. Despite the growing amount of information about individual protein-protein interactions in this network, these data are mostly scattered in the literature or are stored in generic databases that are not designed to display aspects which are fundamental to understanding postsynaptic functions. To overcome these limitations we collected postsynaptic protein-protein interactions (PPIs) together with a high amount of detailed structural and biological information and launched a freely available resource, the Postsynaptic Interaction Database (PSINDB) to make these data and annotations accessible. PSINDB includes tens of thousands of binding regions together with structural features mediating and regulating the formation of PPIs, annotated with detailed experimental information about each interaction. PSINDB is expected to be useful for numerous aspects of molecular neurobiology research, from experiment design to network and systems biology-based modeling and analysis of changes in the protein network upon various stimuli. PSINDB is available at http://psindb.itk.ppke.hu/.