Click here to try a demo of our analysis tools. The demo uses a subset of genes that have been annotated by the Allergy and Asthma Portal (AAP) curation team as having a role in allergy and/or asthma.
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About the Allergy and Asthma Portal
Allergic responses are not simple. They involve networks of complex molecular interactions impacted by various environmental stimuli and the genetics of the individual. To truly understand such a complex response, one must examine it also as a system - not just its parts. Systems biology and associated bioinformatics analyses aim to more holistically study such responses, gaining insights not possible through more reductionist approaches. To do this, we require a catalogue of components of the system and how they interact i.e., consolidation and detailed annotation of molecular interaction networks and pathways relevant to allergy. This first version of the Allergy and Asthma Portal (AAP) integrates such data from both the literature and AllerGen researchers, providing an analysis platform for more sophisticated investigations of the allergy response. The AAP is built upon our previously developed InnateDB resource which has been used successfully to gain fundamental new insights into immune responses, leading to new immune-modulating therapeutics. InnateDB is also part of the IMEx consortium, an international collaboration between a group of major public interaction data providers who have agreed to share curation efforts. The collected, networked data for this effort will form a base for future data integration efforts. AllerGen researchers (and later other researchers) will be able to use this web-accessible resource, allowing them to gain new understanding of allergic responses, and identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets, using a more systems-based approach.