The construction of the World Wide Web-accessible myocardial two-dimensional gel electrophoresis protein database "HEART-2DPAGE": a practical approach.

The construction of the two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel protein database "HEART-2DPAGE" for human heart proteins, accessible via the World Wide Web (WWW), is described. This database provides the opportunity to retrieve descriptive information interactively by mouse clicking on a protein spot within a 2-DE gel image or to retrieve the position of a protein if its protein name or a search expression is given. The realization of searching for proteins, the creation of clickable spots, marked by crosses or textual information, and interactive viewing opportunities are discussed from a software-oriented point of view. The database takes into account that some human heart proteins are chamber specific. Several Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts are described and some practical experience is discussed.