DrugEBIlity BLAST Search

DrugEBIlity BLAST Search performs BLAST alignments of query sequences against structural domains in the DrugEBIlity database to identify homologous domains relevant to drug discovery.

Key Features:

• Integration with DrugEBIlity Database: Direct querying against the DrugEBIlity repository of structural domain data enables retrieval of domain annotations relevant to pharmacology.
• BLAST Search Capability: Employs the BLAST algorithm for rapid local sequence alignments to detect homologous sequences and conserved domains.
• Scalability and Performance: Operates on EMBL-EBI infrastructure with large-scale storage (e.g., 75 petabytes as of December 2015) to support high-throughput processing.
• Interoperability: Designed to interoperate with other bioinformatics resources and datasets to support integrated analyses.
• Output Annotations: Produces sequence alignments and annotations that highlight similarities between query sequences and known structural domains.
• Data Input Processing: Accepts and processes user-provided query sequences for alignment against the structural domain dataset.

Scientific Applications:

• Target Identification: Facilitates discovery of protein domains that may serve as drug targets by matching query sequences to known domains associated with disease pathways.
• Structural Analysis: Aids understanding of functional implications of genetic variation by aligning sequences to structural domains for rational drug design.
• Comparative Genomics: Supports sequence comparisons across organisms to identify conserved domains and inform evolutionary analyses relevant to therapeutic intervention.

Methodology:

Query sequences are input and processed, compared to DrugEBIlity structural domains using the BLAST algorithm, and returned as alignments with annotations that highlight sequence-domain similarities.