The Los Alamos hepatitis C sequence database

• Published in: Bioinformatics 2005-02, Vol.21 (3), p.379-384
• Main Authors: Kuiken, Carla, Yusim, Karina, Boykin, Laura, Richardson, Russell
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Database Management Systems; Databases, Genetic; DNA, Viral - chemistry; DNA, Viral - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Genome, Viral; Hepacivirus - genetics; Hepacivirus - metabolism; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis C virus; Human immunodeficiency virus; Information Storage and Retrieval - methods; Mathematics in biology. Statistical analysis. Models. Metrology. Data processing in biology (general aspects); Molecular Sequence Data; New Mexico; Sequence Alignment - methods; Sequence Analysis - methods; User-Computer Interface; Viral Proteins - chemistry; Viral Proteins - genetics; Viral Proteins - metabolism
• ISSN: 1367-4803; 1460-2059; 1367-4811
• DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bth485

Motivation: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant threat to public health worldwide. The virus is highly variable and evolves rapidly, making it an elusive target for the immune system and for vaccine and drug design. At present, some 30 000 HCV sequences have been published. A central website that provides annotated sequences and analysis tools will be helpful to HCV scientists worldwide. Results: The HCV sequence database collects and annotates sequence data and provides them to the public via a website that contains a user-friendly search interface and a large number of sequence analysis tools, based on the model of the highly regarded Los Alamos HIV database. The HCV sequence database was officially launched in September 2003. Since then, its usage has steadily increased and is now at an average of ∼280 visits per day from distinct IP addresses. Availability: The HCV website can be accessed via http://hcv.lanl.gov and http://hcv-db.org Contact: [e-mail]