uORFdb-a comprehensive literature database on eukaryotic uORF biology

Approximately half of all human transcripts contain at least one upstream translational initiation site that precedes the main coding sequence (CDS) and gives rise to an upstream open reading frame (uORF). We generated uORFdb, publicly available at http://cbdm.mdc-berlin.de/tools/uorfdb, to serve as a comprehensive literature database on eukaryotic uORF biology. Upstream ORFs affect downstream translation by interfering with the unrestrained progression of ribosomes across the transcript leader sequence. Although the first uORF-related translational activity was observed >30 years ago, and an increasing number of studies link defective uORF-mediated translational control to the development of human diseases, the features that determine uORF-mediated regulation of downstream translation are not well understood. The uORFdb was manually curated from all uORF-related literature listed at the PubMed database. It categorizes individual publications by a variety of denominators including taxon, gene and type of study. Furthermore, the database can be filtered for multiple structural and functional uORF-related properties to allow convenient and targeted access to the complex field of eukaryotic uORF biology.