MAPanalyzer

MAPanalyzer provides a curated database and an integrated prediction system to identify microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) and support analysis of microtubule dynamics.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive Database: A meticulously curated MAP dataset compiled from literature and augmented by an automated pipeline that collects additional MAP-related data.
• Novel MAP Predictor: An integrated predictor that combines specialized machine learning classifiers with BLAST homology searching for MAP identification, with performance compared against PSI-BLAST.
• Performance Validation: Benchmarking on curated datasets and the whole genome of Arabidopsis thaliana demonstrating improved performance relative to individual components and PSI-BLAST.

Scientific Applications:

• Identification of known and novel MAPs: Enables discovery and annotation of microtubule-associated proteins across species.
• Study of microtubule dynamics: Supports investigations into MAP functions that regulate microtubule behavior and related cellular processes.
• Genome-scale MAP discovery: Facilitates genome-wide prediction of MAPs, as demonstrated on the Arabidopsis thaliana genome.

Methodology:

Manual literature curation combined with an automated data-collection pipeline assembles the MAP dataset; prediction integrates machine learning classifiers with BLAST homology searching, and performance was benchmarked on curated datasets and the Arabidopsis thaliana genome.