GlycoVault: A Bioinformatics Infrastructure for Glycan Pathway Visualization, Analysis and Modeling

Glycan biosynthesis is the process by which glycans are built in the cells. Information about the process is available from several Web accessible databases, published papers, experimental data produced at the Complex Carbohydrates Research Center (CCRC) as well as the knowledge accumulated by the biologists working at CCRC. The principal purpose of Glyco-Vault is to support the research of glycobiologists in collecting and analyzing data about glycans, such as the changes in their abundance level over a cell´s life cycle as well as their correlation with gene expression levels for proteins that serve as enzymes in the biosynthetic process. In order to support glycan biosynthesis pathway visualization, analysis and modeling, GlycoVault has been collecting data and knowledge from a variety of sources. Traditional, bioinformatics resources have been provided by relational databases. Some new research efforts have proposed replacing relational databases with ontologies. In GlycoVault, we are utilizing both technologies to supply an integrated bioinformatics infrastructure that can serve as a resource to both end users as well as other programs and applications.