EMICSS: added-value annotations for EMDB entries.

Abstract

Motivation: The electron microscopy data bank (EMDB) is a key repository for three-dimensional electron microscopy (3DEM) data but lacks comprehensive annotations and connections to many related biological, functional, and structural data resources. This limitation arises from the optional nature of such information to reduce depositor burden and the complexity of maintaining up-to-date external references, often requiring depositor consent. To address these challenges, we developed EMDB Integration with Complexes, Structures, and Sequences (EMICSS), an independent system that automatically updates cross-references with over 20 external resources, including UniProt, AlphaFold DB, PubMed, Complex Portal, and Gene Ontology.

Results: EMICSS (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/emdb/emicss) annotations are accessible in multiple formats for every EMDB entry and its linked resources, and programmatically via the EMDB application programming interface. EMICSS plays a crucial role supporting the EMDB website, with annotations being used on entry pages, statistics, and in the search system.

Availability and implementation: EMICSS is implemented in Python and it is an open-source, distributed under the Apache license version 2.0, with core code available on GitHub (https://github.com/emdb-empiar/added_annotations).