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Editor – Barbara Kramarz

Ìý(ARUK) ConferenceÌý2019

Barbara and Ruth will be presenting posters at the nextÌýÌýin Harrogate on 19^thÌý- 20^thÌýMarch. Please come and see us to learn about Gene Ontology and how this resource can help dementia researchers to improve theÌýoutcomes of their high-throughput analyses. Our poster numbers areÌýP12.3ÌýandÌýP12.9.

Introduction to Bioinformatics and GO workshop – 16^thÌý- 17^thÌýMay 2019

If you would like to attend our popular free two-day workshops,ÌýÌýsoon, as there will only be around 20 spaces this year.ÌýThis workshop is funded byÌýÌýand provides an overview of several biological knowledgebases, as well as an introduction to GO and functional analysis tools.

We welcome DrÌýMilagros Rodriguez-Lopez

We are very excited to welcomeÌýÌýto the ARUK-fundedÌýneuroinflammation project. Mila is a scientific curator experienced in curating data for several bioinformatic resources including ChEMBL, IntAct, RNAcentral and Gene Ontology (GO). Recently, Mila has been working withÌý, who leads theÌýProtein Function Content team atÌý. Since February Mila has also been contributing annotations for proteins with a role in neuroinflammation and dementia, as aÌýpart ofÌýthe UCL-EMBL-EBIÌý-funded collaboration.

Annotation of microRNAs targeting ‘good’ amyloid-beta receptors – Shirin’s MSc project progress

In January weÌýÌýShirin Saverimuttu who started her MSc GO annotation project with us. Shirin has been using RNAcentral and GO resources to annotate microRNAs that regulate the ‘good’Ìýamyloid-betaÌýreceptors, reviewed byÌý, which we annotated previously ().Ìý

We have finished annotating microRNAs targeting microglial proteins from our priority list

Before joiningÌýÌýRachael was working at UCL on annotation of microRNAs that regulate expression ofÌýmicroglial proteins, which we have prioritised for annotation to curate neuroinflammatory processes. Barbara and Ruth have taken over this project and have now completed GO annotation of microRNAs shown to target the dementia-relevant microglial proteins. Collectively, we have contributed 939 annotations for 176 microRNAs implicated in dementia and/or inflammatory processes (EBI statistics, QuickGO accessed: 1^stÌýMarch 2019).

ARUK-UCL Gene Ontology annotation progress

Our ARUK-funded initiative has thus far resulted in 6827 GO annotations to 1059 distinct gene products, including proteins, microRNAs and macromolecular protein complexes involved in interactions withÌýamyloid-betaÌýandÌýtauÌýas well as in dementia-relevantÌýmicroglial processes. Of these, 4777 GO annotations have been associated with 620 human gene products (EBI statistics, QuickGO accessed: 1^stÌýMarch 2019). We have also contributed to ontology revisions and development and the number of GO terms, which we have either revised or added to theÌýontology since this initiative began in January 2017 has now reached 136 (GOC statistics, AmiGO2 accessed: 1^stÌýMarch 2019).

GREEKC text mining workshop

In February, Ruth attended theÌýÌýworkshop in Malaga, focused on ‘The role of text mining in curation workflows’, where the opportunities for text mining to improve the efficiency of manual curation were demonstrated. Although, it was also agreed that text mining will never replace manual curation. In the session introducing the ‘curation needs’ Ruth gave a presentation entitled ‘Protein level: transcription factors and co-factors’. During the workshop, Ruth also participated in an annotation jamboree, aimed at providing training sentences, describing transcription regulation, for text miners.

Recent Publications

Franceschini N, … , Huntley RP, Lovering RC, … , O'Donnell CJ.ÌýGWAS and colocalization analyses implicate carotid intima-media thickness and carotid plaque loci in cardiovascular outcomes.ÌýNat Commun. 2018.Ìý.

Vadgama N, Lamont D, Hardy J, Nasir J, Lovering RC.ÌýDistinct proteomic profiles in monozygotic twins discordant for ischaemic stroke.ÌýMol Cell Biochem. 2019.Ìý.