The availability of the complete genome sequence for the laboratory mouse provides a powerful platform for predicting genes and other genome features. However, building a catalog of genome annotations is just the beginning for biology in a “post-genome” era. To derive new insights into fundamental biological processes using complete genome sequences will require understanding how genome features interact in pathways and networks in the cell and how perturbations of these interactions contribute to disease processes.  Toward this end, we have implemented a new database of curated biochemical pathways for the laboratory mouse called MouseCyc.

The MouseCyc database represents a significant advance for biomedical researchers wanting to access mouse genetic and genomic data in the context of physiological and cellular processes. The initial focus for the development of MouseCyc is on metabolism and includes such cell level processes as biosynthesis, degradation, energy production, and detoxification. MouseCyc differs from existing pathway databases and software tools because of the extent to which the pathway information in MouseCyc is integrated with the wealth of biological knowledge for the laboratory mouse that is available from the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) database.

MouseCyc is supported by NIH HG003622.

Personnel:

Carol J. Bult, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Alexei Evsikov, Ph.D., Research Scientist/Scientific Curator

Mary Dolan, Ph.D., Bioinformatics Analyst

Past personnel:

Emily Patek, Graduate Student