About DC-MAPP

DC-MAPP comprises of three modules, (1) CREATION OF CUSTOM-DATABASE, (2) CUSTOM-DATABASE SEARCH and (3) PEPTIDE MASS FINGERPRINTING (PMF). An unique facet of this software is that ‘custom-databases’ can be created utilizing the sequences of peptides or proteins which are entered as input. Sequences of the peptides and proteins predicted from transcriptomic data, also can be used to create custom-database. The process of building customized database involves calculation of the mass-to-charge ratio: m/z values corresponding to multiply protonated ions of intact peptides, intact proteins as well as ‘fragment ions’, which can be anticipated from electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometric data. So, DC-MAPP can be helpful for analyzing ESI - MS/MS as well as MALDI - MS/MS data. The purpose of second module is to search the customized database that has been created by the first module. This search process is based on the queried-in m/z values that are observed either in MS or in MS/MS experiments, eventually aiding in identification of peptides/proteins (sequences). The second module can also accept .mgf (Mascot Generic Format) files. It is recommended to use the first and second module in tandem for better identification of peptides and proteins. The third module is built based on a well-known strategy, which does not require MS/MS data as input; yet it can be useful for targeted investigations. Data from both ESI and MALDI-MS can be used for PMF. ‘Fasta’ file format can be entered as input in the third module.

This standalone tool is implemented using Python programming language and the graphical user interface (GUI) is made by Page/Tcl. For further details and applications of this program read the ‘Documentation’ file given in this webpage.