FEDERATED 2-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORESIS DATABASE - SIMPLE MEANS OF PUBLISHING 2-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORESIS DATA

While a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) database is a relativel y old concept, in recent years it generated renewed interest within th e 2-DE community due to two main factors: (i) The high reproducibility of the current 2-DE method allows 2-DE images to be exchanged and com pared between laboratories. (ii) The recent development of faster and more powerful techniques for protein identification such as microseque ncing, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry ( MALDI-MS) and amino acid composition makes the production of reference protein maps and 2-DE databases cost- and time-effective. Additionall y, the Internet network's current increase in popularity, combined wit h the rapid growth of Internet-connected laboratories, provides a stra ightforward means of publishing and sharing 2-DE data. While a small n umber of laboratories have already successfully published their data o ver the net, the increasing number of 2-DE database servers that are c urrently being set up will sooner or later require some kind of standa rdization. Unfortunately, standardization can be a long and cumbersome process inevitably leading to undesirable compromises. A federated da tabase offers a simple and efficient way to publish and share 2-DE dat a without the need for standardization. Taking advantage of Internet p rotocols such as World Wide Web, they allow each laboratory to maintai n their own database and to interconnect it with other similar databas es through the use of active cross-references. This paper first presen ts guidelines for building a federated 2-DE database that may easily b e followed by most laboratories. It then briefly reviews the state-of- the-art in networked 2-DE databases, and finally describes the SWISS-2 DPAGE database which fully implements the concept of a federated 2-DE database.