What is IntAct?

IntAct is a central, public repository where molecular interactions data can be stored and accessed. We are populating IntAct both with submitted data and with data from the scientific literature. The database makes extensive use of controlled vocabularies, which allow consistent description of the experimental detail that was used to generate the data. To support generalised queries, these vocabularies have a hierarchical structure and, where possible, existing reference systems such as the NCBI taxonomy database or the Gene Ontology (GO) are used.

When you query data in IntAct you can also access millions of interactions in over 30 further data resources via our PSICQUIC (Protemics Standard Initiative Common QUery InterfaCe) service or a consistently annotated, non-redundant, experimentally determined subset from the IMEx Consortium.

Why do we need IntAct?

Molecular interactions provide a valuable resource for the elucidation of cellular function, and protein interaction studies have been the focus of much recent biomolecular research. Experiments vary from large-scale systems that generate sizeable datasets, for example two-hybrid systems or  affinity purification, to an in-depth analysis of a single interaction in which the interacting domains, or even the individual amino acid residues, can be identified.

The IntAct database makes these detailed data available both for search over the web and for local download. Additional data, curated to the same level of detail, are available from our IMEx partners, which all use our infrastructure for curation and data dissemination. These data are available via the IntAct website and the PSICQUIC service, which also hosts many other data types, including predictive interactions, interologues and the results of text-mining-based approaches for inferring molecular interactions.