GPCR ontology: development and application of a G protein-coupled receptor pharmacology knowledge framework.
BACKGROUND
Novel tools need to be developed to help scientists analyze large amounts of available screening data with the goal to identify entry points for the development of novel chemical probes and drugs. As the largest class of drug targets, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) remain of particular interest and are pursued by numerous academic and industrial research projects.


RESULTS
We report the first GPCR ontology to facilitate integration and aggregation of GPCR-targeting drugs and demonstrate its application to classify and analyze a large subset of the PubChem database. The GPCR ontology, based on previously reported BioAssay Ontology, depicts available pharmacological, biochemical and physiological profiles of GPCRs and their ligands. The novelty of the GPCR ontology lies in the use of diverse experimental datasets linked by a model to formally define these concepts. Using a reasoning system, GPCR ontology offers potential for knowledge-based classification of individuals (such as small molecules) as a function of the data.


BACKGROUND
The GPCR ontology is available at http://www.bioassayontology.org/bao_gpcr and the National Center for Biomedical Ontologies Web site.
Center for Computational Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA and Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Magdalena J
MJ
Przydzial
Barun
B
Bhhatarai
Amar
A
Koleti
Uma
U
Vempati
Stephan C
SC
Schürer
D019295:Computational Biology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D015195:Drug Design; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D006801:Humans; D051188:Knowledge Bases; D008024:Ligands; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification
D008024:Ligands; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled