The mitochondrial protein atlas: A database of experimentally verified information on the human mitochondrial proteome

Given its central role in various biological systems, as well as its involvement in numerous pathologies, the mitochondrion is one of the best-studied organelles. However, although the mitochondrial genome has been extensively investigated, protein-level information remains partial, and in many cases, hypothetical. The Mitochondrial Protein Atlas (MPA; URL: lifeserv.bgu.ac.il/wb/jeichler/MPA) is a database that provides a complete, manually curated inventory of only experimentally validated human mitochondrial proteins. The MPA presently contains 911 unique protein entries, each of which is associated with at least one experimentally validated and referenced mitochondrial localization. The MPA also contains experimentally validated and referenced information defining function, structure, involvement in pathologies, interactions with other MPA proteins, as well as the method(s) of analysis used in each instance. Connections to relevant external data sources are offered for each entry, including links to NCBI Gene, PubMed, and Protein Data Bank. The MPA offers a prototype for other information sources that allow for a distinction between what has been confirmed and what remains to be verified experimentally.