An integrated information system for protein identification

To separate and identify proteins within one cell, the bio-researcher needs to go through a process with three phrases: 2D gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometer analysis, and online matching. Various tools are used during each phase and resulted data are recorded. However, the data generated by different tools are put in files of different formats. It is hard for the researcher to manage the data from different experiments. It is also difficult for the data to be shared and further analyzed. In this paper, an integrated information system developed for such a protein identification process is introduced. The system integrates all the data, including 2D gel electrophoresis images, XML data about the protein spots on the images, peak data of protein fragments, and online matching settings and results. With this online database management system, researchers can easily record and share their experimental results through the Internet. This will facilitate the proteomics research.