FAST DB gathers information on the exon content of the known transcripts produced from most human and mouse genes.
This database comes with a comprehensive and interactive web interface gathering tools to predict the post-transcriptional regulation and coding potential of transcripts. FAST DB also contains tools to facilitate experimental studies on splicing variant expression.
FAST DB is one of the official European databases since FAST DB was officially recognized by the European Network of Excellence on Alternative Splicing (EURASNET) in order to fill some of its objectives, in particular to provide a user-friendly alternative splicing database for biologists.
FAST DB gathers more than 10,000 users from all over the world and led to several publications.
• Really user-friendly interface to be readily searchable and intelligible at a glance:
Clear graphical representation of exon/intron gene structure with alternative events highlighted in red.
"[...] we found that the FAST DB website is a very user-friendly website [...]" Lerivray et al., Biol. Cell 2006.
• Prediction of alternative coding sequence functions (prediction of the most probable ORF for each transcript and prediction of functional protein domains).
"CtBP1-L and CtBP1-S [...] derived from mRNA with distinct AUG-containing first coding exons [citation of FAST DB]" Verger et al., MCB 2006.
• Prediction of no protein production: Prediction of microRNA binding sites and prediction of NMD targeting for each transcript.
"Several of the alternative splicing events [...] lead to premature termination codons and potentially NMD [citation of FAST DB]" Sanford et al., PLoS One 2008.
• Tools to assist in experimental analysis of splicing variant expression: In particular, the "in silico PCR", which facilitate the RT-PCR primer design.
"With the aid of the FastDB databank, we selected only pairs of primers that hybridize to different but constitutive exons" Kress et al., MCB 2007.
• Many others tools and features: prediction of tissue-specificity of each alternative event, splice site scoring, transcription and splicing factor binding site prediction, UTR analyses...
• FAST DB will soon include numerous improvements such as: daily update of data (gene, transcripts and alternative events); new interface to be more and more user-friendly; Rat version ...
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