InterPro is a resource that provides functional analysis of protein sequences by classifying them into families and predicting the presence of domains and important sites. To classify proteins in this way, InterPro uses predictive models, known as signatures, provided by many different databases , called member databases, that make up the InterPro consortium. We combine protein signatures from these member databases into a single searchable resource, capitalising on their individual strengths to produce a powerful integrated database and diagnostic tool.
InterPro is used by research scientists interested in the large-scale analysis of whole proteomes, genomes and metagenomes, as well as researchers seeking to characterise individual protein sequences. Within the EMBL-EBI, InterPro is used to help annotate protein sequences in UniProtKB. It is also used by the Gene Ontology Annotation group to automatically assign Gene Ontology terms to protein sequences. The database is available for text- and sequence-based searches via a webserver, and for download via anonymous FTP. Like other EBI databases, it is in the public domain, since its content can be used "by any individual and for any purpose
InterPro contains three main entities: proteins, signatures (also known as "methods" or "models") and entries. The proteins in UniProtKB are also the central protein entities in InterPro. Information regarding which signatures significantly match these proteins are calculated as the sequences are released by UniProtKB and these results are made available to the public. The matches of signatures to proteins are what determine how signatures are integrated together into InterPro entries: comparative overlap of matched protein sets and the location of the signatures matches on the sequences are used as indicators of relatedness. Only signatures considered to be of sufficient quality are integrated into InterPro.
InterPro's intention is to provide a one-stop-shop for protein classification, where all the signatures produced by the different member databases are placed into entries within the InterPro database. Signatures which represent equivalent domains, sites or families are put into the same entry and entries can also be related to one another. Additional information such as a description, consistent names and Gene Ontology (GO) terms are associated with each entry, where possible.
The contents of InterPro consist of diagnostic signatures and the proteins that they significantly match. The signatures consist of models (simple types, such as regular expressions or more complex ones, such as Hidden Markov models) which describe protein families, domains or sites. Models are built from the amino acid sequences of known families or domains and they are subsequently used to search unknown sequences (such as those arising from novel genome sequencing) in order to classify them. Each of the member databases of InterPro contribute towards a different oppurtunity, from very high-level, structure-based classifications (SUPERFAMILY and CATH-Gene3D) through to quite specific sub-family classifications.
Each InterPro member database has a different area of expertise, and they largely offer complementary levels of protein classification, ranging from broad-level to comparatively granular assignments. These are CATH, Gene3D, HAMAP, Pfam, PIRSF, PROSITE, CDD and SFLD.
