Research resource: the Endometrium Database Resource (EDR).

In order to understand the biology of the endometrium and potentially develop new diagnostic tools and treatments for endometrial diseases, the highly orchestrated gene expression/regulation that occurs within the uterus must first be understood. Even though a wealth of information on endometrial gene expression/regulation is available, this information is scattered across several different resources in formats that can be difficult for the average bench scientist to query, integrate, and utilize. The Endometrium Database Resource (EDR) was created as a single evolving resource for protein- and micro-RNA-encoding genes that have been shown by gene expression microarray, Northern blot, or other experiments in the literature to have their expression regulated in the uterus of humans, mice, rats, cows, domestic pigs, guinea pigs, and sheep. Genes are annotated in EDR with basic gene information (eg, gene symbol and chromosome), gene orthologs, and gene ontologies. Links are also provided to external resources for publication/s, nucleic and amino acid sequence, gene product function, and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) phase expression graph information. The resource also allows for direct comparison of relative gene expression in different microarray experiments for genes shown in the literature to be differentially expressed in the uterus. It is available via a user-friendly, web-based interface and is available without charge or restriction to the entire scientific community. The EDR can be accessed at http://edr.research.bcm.edu.