Database for underwater biosensor ligands

There is a great diversity of different chemical substances found in the World Ocean. The population of river and marine chemical substances contains natural oligopeptides and their analogues. They are produced by living organisms and can be the result of human activity. We are familiar with several thousand naturally occurring oligopeptides at present and this number is rapidly increasing. The information on their structures and function is contained in a specially created database: EROP-Moscow (Endogenous Regulatory OligoPeptides). These substances were elucidated in many river and marine organisms: Chordata (Protochordata, mammalians, fishes, amphibians), Coelenterata (hydra, jellyfishes, sea anemones,), Arthropoda (crabs, lobsters, prawns, shrimps), Reptilia (alligators, moccasins, turtles), Echinodermata (sea cucumbers, sea urchins, starfishes), Mollusca (mussels, sea hares, snails, octopus) etc. Many of them are the sources of different toxins and other physiologically active oligopeptides that can be detected by special biosensors. Increasing interest in the detection of river and marine living organisms and the underwater biosensor problem has created a need for improved data management in this field. Part of the EROP-Moscow database contains more than thousand entries of fully referenced river and marine oligopeptide data including primary structure, functions, and location along with relevant literature references. The database has a set of search tools that allow users to extract data and perform specific queries and different investigations. These entries have compiled from scientific literature, cleaned of errors and enriched with additional structural and functional information. The grouping of oligopeptides provides a basis for extending and clarifying the existing structural and functional (e.g. oligopeptide biosensor interaction) classification. This information is planned to be accessible via the Internet.