UC San Diego

Neuropeptides are essential for cell-cell communication in neurological and endocrine physiological processes in health and disease. While many neuropeptides have been identified in previous studies, the resulting data has not been structured to facilitate further analysis by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), the main technology for high throughput neuropeptide identification. Many neuropeptides are difficult to identify when searching MS/MS spectra against large protein databases because of their atypical lengths (e.g., shorter/longer than common peptides) and lack of appropriate residues to facilitate peptide ionization/fragmentation. NeuroPedia is a neuropeptide encyclopedia of peptide sequences (including genomic and taxonomic information) and spectral libraries of identified MS/MS spectra of homolog neuropeptides from multiple species. Searching neuropeptide MS/MS data against known NeuroPedia sequences improves the sensitivity of database search tools. Moreover, the availability of neuropeptide spectral libraries also enables the utilization of spectral library search tools, and further improves the sensitivity of peptide identification. These will also reinforce the confidence in peptide identifications by enabling visual comparisons between new and previously identified neuropeptide MS/MS spectra