In our previous TiPS Web Watch article on
G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)
websites [1], we provided information
about several websites related to GPCRs
that are available in the public domain.
Our goal was to guide interested readers
towards web-based computational tools
that are specifically designed for genomic
and structural studies of GPCRs, in
addition to databases with GPCR sequence
information or with experimental data to
help identify responses to agonists and
antagonists. Since the publication of this
article, several new GPCR websites have
emerged and existing websites have
released new versions that contain
additional tools (Table 1). This is not
surprising because research on GPCRs is
very active, in part because the GPCR
superfamily represents the largest class of
receptors in mammalian genomes, and
receptors in this superfamily are current
or proposed targets of a large number of
drugs. In this article, we provide an update
of existing GPCR websites and describe
new tools not reviewed in our previous
article. We also include other general
websites that might prove useful for those
interested in GPCRs.
GPCR-dedicated websites
The most comprehensive GPCR
database tool currently available
in the public domain is the G Protein-
Coupled Database (GPCRDB;
http://www.gpcr.org). GPCRDB integrates
sequence data, evolutionary relationships
and pharmacological data [2]. Two new
features in the 2002 release 6.0 of
GPCRDB are: (1) a ‘BLAST’ service in
which users can query a sequence against
the GPCRDB; and (2) an additional source
of ligand binding data. In the coming
months, further data will be integrated
into GPCRDB, including point mutation
data directly extracted from the literature
with the option to display point mutations
from TinyGrap (http://tinygrap.uit.no/) or
deduced from published work along with
multiple sequences alignments. Links to
the Gene Ontology data and cross-
references to the IUPHAR Receptor
database, which is due to be released in
December 2002, will also become available
(http://www.iuphar.org/). This database
will contain detailed information about
GPCRs (ultimately for ~350 non-sensory
GPCRs) and other receptors (including ion
channel and ligand-gated channel
receptors, enzyme-associated receptors,
and transcriptional factor receptors), and
will be searchable and addressable via a
newly devised system of receptor codes.
In addition to the Olfactory Receptor
Database and its sister database the Odorant
Molecule Database described previously [1],
several new databases dedicated to
specific subfamilies of GPCRs and their
ligands and pathways are available.
The Chemokine Receptor Database
(http://crf.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/
CSP/Receptor.html) provides genomic and
protein links for all known and putative
chemokine receptors. This database is a
subset of the larger database Cytokine
Signaling Pathway Database
(http://crf.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/),
which contains biochemical and sequence
data and references regarding signaling
molecules (e.g. receptors, ligands and
kinases, among others) and their
TRENDS in Pharmacological Sciences Vol.23 No.11 November 2002
http://tips.trends.com 0165-6147/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0165-6147(02)02113-2
535 Forum
Web Watch
G-protein-coupled receptor websites
Brinda K. Rana and Paul A. Insel
Table 1. G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and other receptor websites
Website URL Date last updated
or released
GPCR-specific websites
Chemokine Receptor http://crf.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/CSP/ 20 February 2001
Family Database Receptor.html
Luteinizing Hormone http://www.eur.nl/fgg/endov/lhr.html 11 April 2001
Receptor Mutation DB
Cytokine Signaling http://crf.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/ 4 July 2001
Pathway Database
GPCRDB (Version 6) http://www.gpcr.org 8 March 2002
Visuer http://transport.physbio.mssm.edu/viseur/ 14 December
viseur.html 1999
Olfactory Database http://senselab.med.yale.edu/senselab/ June 1999
(Version 4) ORDB/
TinyGrap (Version 10) http://tinygrap.uit.no/ April 2001
WNT gene Homepage http://www.stanford.edu/~rnusse/ April 2002
wntwindow.html
The Swiss-Model 7TM http://www.expasy.org/swissmod/
SWISS-MODEL.html
GPCR Pattern Recognition http://www.biochem.ucl.ac.uk/bsm/
dbbrowser/GPCR/
IUPHAR Receptor http://www.iuphar.org/ To be released
Database December 2002
Endogenous GPCR List http://www.biomedcomp.com/GPCR.html 13 February 1999
Other websites
Pharmacological Targets http://research.bmn.com/ptbase September 2002
Database (PTbase)
Homophila http://homophila.sdsc.edu/ March 2002
SBASE (Release 9) http://hydra.icgeb.trieste.it/sbase/ 13 June 2002
HGVbase (Release 13.0) http://hgvbase.cgb.ki.se/ 27 March 2002
JSNP (Release 11) http://snp.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ 17 July 2002
The SNP Consortium Ltd http://snp.cshl.org/ Regularly
updated
Entrez SNP http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query. Regularly
fcgi?db snp updated
GenMapp http://www.genmapp.org/public/PNAS_Ro1/
Gprotein.asp
PDSP http://pdsp.cwru.edu/
PharmGKB Community http://www.pharmgkb.org/community/ July 2002
Project search.jsp