The lab of William R. Brody Faculty Scholar Rachel Karchin, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and ICM core faculty member, has collaborated with bioinformatics software firm inSilico Solutions and the UC Santa Cruz Ebola Genome Portal to develop MuPIT Ebola Edition, a free, browser-based online tool that enables researchers to visualize Ebola gene mutations in the context of three-dimensional protein structures. Dr. David Haussler, a researcher at UCSC and longtime collaborator of Dr. Karchin, suggested that her team create an add-on to UCSC’s new Human Genome Browser, which offers researchers detailed genetic information about the virus. The Karchin lab’s MuPIT Ebola Edition provides a 3-D view of Ebola’s proteins, making it easier to interpret the functional implications of mutations and their relationship to Ebola Virus Evolution and its potential vulnerabilities. According to Dr. Karchin, research suggests that mutations at the virus’s antibody-binding sites are important because they can provide clues about how effective a new antibody vaccine may be at combating a disease such as Ebola. She added that because proteins are three-dimensional molecules, seeing their mutations and epitopes on-screen as 3-D structures can offer important details about their functional and clinical importance.

More information about this new tool can be found at here.