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iCartiGD: the Integrated Cartilage Gene Database

Ming-Yiu Yeung* 1 email, David K Smith* 1 email, Matthew SY Chan1 email, Cheuk M Li1 email, Brian C Wong1 email, Kenneth MC Cheung2 email, Keith DK Luk2 email, Kathryn SE Cheah1 email, Pak Sham3,4 email, Danny Chan1 email and You-Qiang Song1,2,4 email

1Department of Biochemistry, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

2Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

3Department of Psychiatry, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

4Genome Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Rd, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

BMC Genetics 2007, 8:4doi:10.1186/1471-2156-8-4

Published: 23 February 2007

Abstract

Background

Diseases of cartilage, such as arthritis and degenerative disc disease, affect the majority of the general population, particularly with ageing. Discovery and understanding of the genes and pathways involved in cartilage biology will greatly assist research on the development, degeneration and disorders of cartilage.

Description

We have established the Integrated Cartilage Gene Database (iCartiGD) of genes that are known, based on results from high throughput experiments, to be expressed in cartilage. Information about these genes is extracted automatically from public databases and presented as a single page report via a web-browser. A variety of flexible search options are provided and the chromosomal distribution of cartilage associated genes can be presented.

Conclusion

iCartiGD provides a comprehensive source of information on genes known to be expressed in cartilage. It will remain current due to its automatic update capability and provide researchers with an easily accessible resource for studies involving cartilage. Genetic studies of the development and disorders of cartilage will benefit from this database.


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