BrainTrap

BrainTrap is a database of 3D protein expression patterns in the Drosophila brain, providing interactive visualization and exploration of confocal datasets showing reporter gene expression and protein localization.

https://braintrap.virtualflybrain.org/

Overview

BrainTrap was developed as part of a large-scale collaborative research project to collect protein expression location information from protein-trap lines generated by the Cambridge Protein Trap (CPT) project. The database provides detailed 3D confocal datasets showing protein expression patterns throughout the adult Drosophila brain.

Features

Interactive web-based viewer for exploring 3D confocal datasets
Full-size images throughout the brain volume can be viewed interactively
Secondary immunohistochemical label (anti-brp) aids navigation and helps identify brain structures
Searchable annotations linked to the FlyBase Drosophila anatomy ontology
Anatomical search criteria can be specified using:
- Automatic term completion
- Hierarchical browser for the ontology
Annotation provenance tracking with highlighted expression locations
Downloadable confocal dataset files in original format
XML format annotation data export
Gene comparison tables for selected genes

Original Publication

Knowles-Barley S, Longair M and Armstrong JD (2010). BrainTrap: a database of 3D protein expression patterns in the Drosophila brain. Database, Vol. 2010, Article ID baq005, doi:10.1093/database/baq005 (https://doi.org/10.1093/database/baq005)

Funding

Original development was funded by:

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Medical Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
British Society for Developmental Biology
Society for Experimental Biology
Virtual Fly Brain e-Science Institute (ESI) Theme

The fly lines were generated by the Cambridge Protein Trap Project, supported by a Wellcome Trust grant to Kathryn Lilley, Steve Russell and Daniel St. Johnson.