PepBind: A Comprehensive Database and Computational Tool for Analysis of Protein–Peptide Interactions

Abstract Protein–peptide interactions, where one partner is a globular protein (domain) and the other is a flexible linear peptide, are key components of cellular processes predominantly in signaling and regulatory networks, hence are prime targets for drug design. To derive the details of the protein–peptide interaction mechanism is often a cumbersome task, though it can be made easier with the availability of specific databases and tools. The Peptide Binding Protein Database (PepBind) is a curated and searchable repository of the structures, sequences and experimental observations of 3100 protein–peptide complexes. The web interface contains a computational tool, protein inter-chain interaction (PICI), for computing several types of weak or strong interactions at the protein–peptide interaction interface and visualizing the identified interactions between residues in Jmol viewer. This initial database release focuses on providing protein–peptide interface information along with structure and sequence information for protein–peptide complexes deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Structures in PepBind are classified based on their cellular activity. More than 40% of the structures in the database are found to be involved in different regulatory pathways and nearly 20% in the immune system. These data indicate the importance of protein–peptide complexes in the regulation of cellular processes. PepBind is freely accessible at http://pepbind.bicpu.edu.in/.