Published online 11 November 2009 Nucleic Acids Research, 2010, Vol. 38, Database issue D743–D749 doi:10.1093/nar/gkp999 Protein Structure Initiative Material Repository: an open shared public resource of structural genomics plasmids for the biological community Catherine Y. Cormier1,2,3, Stephanie E. Mohr3,4, Dongmei Zuo2,3, Yanhui Hu2,3, Andreas Rolfs2,3, Jason Kramer1,2,3, Elena Taycher2,3, Fontina Kelley2,3, Michael Fiacco1,2, Greggory Turnbull1 and Joshua LaBaer1,2,3,* 1Arizona State University, Biodesign Institute, Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics, 1001 S. McAllister Dr. Tempe, AZ 85287-6401, 2Protein Structure Initiative Material Repository, Arizona State University, 1001 S. McAllister Dr. Tempe, AZ 85287-6401, 3Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, 4Drosophila RNAi Screening Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA Received September 4, 2009; Revised October 15, 2009; Accepted October 16, 2009 ABSTRACT The Protein Structure Initiative Material Repository (PSI-MR; http://psimr.asu.edu) provides centralized storage and distribution for the protein expression plasmids created by PSI researchers. These plasmids are a resource that allows the research community to dissect the biological function of proteins whose structures have been identified by the PSI. The plasmid annotation, which includes the full length sequence, vector information and associated publications, is stored in a freely available, searchable database called DNASU (http://dnasu.asu.edu). Each PSI plasmid is also linked to a variety of additional resources, which facilitates cross-referencing of a particular plasmid to protein annotations and experimental data. Plasmid samples can be requested directly through the website. We have also developed a novel strategy to avoid the most common concern encountered when distributing plasmids namely, the complexity of material transfer agreement (MTA) processing and the resulting delays this causes. The Expedited Process MTA, in which we created a network of institutions that agree to the terms of transfer in advance of a material request, eliminates these delays. Our hope is that by creating a repos- itory of expression-ready plasmids and expediting the process for receiving these plasmids, we will help accelerate the accessibility and pace of scientific discovery. INTRODUCTION With the completion of the sequencing of the genomes of human and other organisms, attention has focused on the characterization and function of proteins, the products of genes. The availability of sequence data and the growing impact of structural biology on biomedical research have prompted many groups to undertake projects in the emerging ﬁeld of structural genomics. The objective of the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) is to solve protein structures and to make these structures widely available for clinical and basic studies with the expectation that this will expand the knowledge of the role of proteins in normal biological processes and in disease. The goals of the PSI:Biology are to continue solving protein structures and to apply high-throughput structural biology to important biological problems, which includes encouraging partnerships between structural biologists and investigators from the biological, biochemical and/ or molecular communities (http://www.nigms.nih .gov/Initiatives/PSI/psi_biology/). The PSI comprises a consortium of institutions, each focusing on a unique set of targets or protein type (e.g. eukaryotic proteins or membrane proteins). Each PSI Center has created thousands of plasmid clones con- taining genes or fragments of genes to be used for protein expression, puriﬁcation, crystallization and structure determination. The PSI Material Repository (PSI-MR) was established in 2006 with the mission of storing, main- taining and distributing plasmid clones produced by PSI researchers. Key goals for all material repositories include reducing the eﬀort required by depositors to distribute their *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 480 965 2805; Fax: +1 480 965 3051; Email: jlabaer@asu.edu The Author(s) 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.