Are you Min Zhao?

Claim your profile

Publications (2)16.05 Total impact

  • Source
    Article: AutismKB: an evidence-based knowledgebase of autism genetics.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder with a prevalence of 0.9-2.6%. Twin studies showed a heritability of 38-90%, indicating strong genetic contributions. Yet it is unclear how many genes have been associated with ASD and how strong the evidence is. A comprehensive review and analysis of literature and data may bring a clearer big picture of autism genetics. We show that as many as 2193 genes, 2806 SNPs/VNTRs, 4544 copy number variations (CNVs) and 158 linkage regions have been associated with ASD by GWAS, genome-wide CNV studies, linkage analyses, low-scale genetic association studies, expression profiling and other low-scale experimental studies. To evaluate the evidence, we collected metadata about each study including clinical and demographic features, experimental design and statistical significance, and used a scoring and ranking approach to select a core data set of 434 high-confidence genes. The genes mapped to pathways including neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, synapse transmission and axon guidance. To better understand the genes we parsed over 30 databases to retrieve extensive data about expression patterns, protein interactions, animal models and pharmacogenetics. We constructed a MySQL-based online database and share it with the broader autism research community at http://autismkb.cbi.pku.edu.cn, supporting sophisticated browsing and searching functionalities.
    Nucleic Acids Research 12/2011; 40(Database issue):D1016-22. · 8.03 Impact Factor
  • Source
    Article: SynDB: a Synapse protein DataBase based on synapse ontology.
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: A synapse is the junction across which a nerve impulse passes from an axon terminal to a neuron, muscle cell or gland cell. The functions and building molecules of the synapse are essential to almost all neurobiological processes. To describe synaptic structures and functions, we have developed Synapse Ontology (SynO), a hierarchical representation that includes 177 terms with hundreds of synonyms and branches up to eight levels deep. associated 125 additional protein keywords and 109 InterPro domains with these SynO terms. Using a combination of automated keyword searches, domain searches and manual curation, we collected 14,000 non-redundant synapse-related proteins, including 3000 in human. We extensively annotated the proteins with information about sequence, structure, function, expression, pathways, interactions and disease associations and with hyperlinks to external databases. The data are stored and presented in the Synapse protein DataBase (SynDB, http://syndb.cbi.pku.edu.cn). SynDB can be interactively browsed by SynO, Gene Ontology (GO), domain families, species, chromosomal locations or Tribe-MCL clusters. It can also be searched by text (including Boolean operators) or by sequence similarity. SynDB is the most comprehensive database to date for synaptic proteins.
    Nucleic Acids Research 02/2007; 35(Database issue):D737-41. · 8.03 Impact Factor