Introduction: The Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database (MRGD; currently http://mrgd.org), established by Dr. Robert E. Braun at the University of Washington in 1997, has had a long historical presence in the reproductive biology community as a research resource designed to disseminate highly relevant male and female reproductive tissue and cell gene expression data from many publications. Highly visited and highly cited, the website provided users a one-stop shop to quickly determine a gene expression profile for their gene or tissue of interest from an aggregate of many microarray data sources, all published between 2004 and 2008. Although of unquestionable significance in advancing the fields of male and female reproduction, with the advent of sequencing-based gene expression analyses, and the plethora of new published datasets available, the MRGD has been in dire need of presenting results from these newest advances in technology.
Methods: In the present work, we have established a new web portal, the Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database, version 2 (MRGDv2). This new portal hosts interactive visualizations (customizable heatmaps and bar graphs) of male and female reproductive and non-reproductive tissue. Cell gene expression data from our recent reanalysis of 988 published human and mouse RNA-seq datasets was also present.
Results: We have generated a new and innovative database with a comprehensive assortment of additional human and mouse tissues and cells. The data is presented to users on a refreshed and modern web interface with most data hosted on the former MRGD re-included and referenced on the new website, with all gene IDs updated to the current version. Further, users are able to display the orthologous species' expression result side-by-side through one search.
Conclusions: The former MRGD was highly utilized by biologists and researchers across the fields of reproductive biology and contraceptive development. It is anticipated that the MRGDv2 will be as impactful, if not more impactful, due the added datasets, functionality and features that have been added. With gene expression data at your fingertips, clinicians can make a more informed decision as to whether a mutated gene is likely to cause a reproductive phenotype-only, or cause disorders that extend to non-reproductive systems, and which systems are likely to be affected.
Source of Funding: This work has been supported by the Male Contraceptive Initiative and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development grant R01HD095341 (to TXG).
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