The Minimum Information Required About a Glycomics Experiment (MIRAGE) initiative is part of the

Minimum Information Standards Minimum information standards are sets of guidelines and formats for reporting data derived by specific high-throughput methods. Their purpose is to ensure the data generated by these methods can be easily verified, analysed and interpreted by the ...

and specifically applies to guidelines for reporting (describing

metadata Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...

) on a

glycomics Glycomics is the comprehensive study of glycomes (the entire complement of sugars, whether free or present in more complex molecules of an organism), including genetic, physiologic, pathologic, and other aspects. Glycomics "is the systematic study o ...

experiment. The initiative is supported by the

Beilstein Institute for the Advancement of Chemical Sciences The Beilstein Institute for the Advancement of Chemical Sciences is a non-profit foundation located in Frankfurt am Main (German: ''Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften''). Founded in 1951 by the Max Planck Society in hon ...

. The MIRAGE project focuses on the development of publication guidelines for interaction and structural glycomics data as well as the development of data exchange formats. The project was launched in 2011 in Seattle and set off with the description of the aims of the MIRAGE project.

Organization

The MIRAGE Commission consists of three groups which tightly interact with each other. The advisory board consists of leading scientists in glycobiology, who, for example, critically review the outcomes of the working group and promote the reporting guidelines within the community. The working group seeks for external consultation and directly interacts with the glycomics community. The group members carry out defined subprojects (e.g. development and revision of guidelines) by focusing on specific research areas to fulfill the overall aims of the MIRAGE project. The co-ordination team links the subprojects from the working group together and passes the outcomes to the advisory board for review.

Reporting guidelines

The following reporting guidelines were developed and published: * MIRAGE MS guidelines for reporting mass spectrometry-based glycan analysis. These guidelines are based on the

MIAPE The Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI) is a working group of the Human Proteome Organization. It aims to define data standards for proteomics to facilitate data comparison, exchange and verification. The Proteomics Standards Initiative focuses ...

guideline template, i.e. MIAPE-MS version 2.24. * MIRAGE Sample preparation guidelines which are considered a common basis for any further MIRAGE reporting guidelines in order to keep the requirements for data analysis short and consistent. * MIRAGE Glycan microarray guidelines for the comprehensive description of

Glycan array Glycan arrays, like that offered by the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG), National Center for Functional Glycomics (NCFG) anZ Biotech, LLC contain carbohydrate compounds that can be screened with lectins, antibodies or cell receptors to def ...

experiments the reporting guidelines for glycan microarray analysis have been developed. In order to assist the authors to reporting in compliance with these guidelines, exemplar publications and a template with a data example is provided. * MIRAGE Liquid chromatography guidelines for reporting of liquid chromatography (LC) glycan data.

Derivatives

The MIRAGE reporting guidelines provide essential frameworks for subsequent projects related with the development of both software tools for the analysis of experimental glycan data and databases for the deposition of interaction analysis data (e.g. from glycan microarray experiments) and structural analysis data (e.g. from mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography experiments). As the guidelines include the definitions of the minimum information required for reporting glycomics experiments comprehensively, this information is incorporated in database structures, data acquisition forms and data exchange formats.
The following databases comply with the MIRAGE guidelines:
UniCarb-DB
that stores curated data and information on glycan structures and associated fragment data characterised by LC-

Tandem_mass spectrometry Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more mass analyzers are coupled together using an additional reaction step to increase their abilities to analyse chemical samples. A comm ...

strategies.
GlycoStore
a curated

Chromatography In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent (gas or liquid) called the ''mobile phase'', which carries it through a system (a ...

Electrophoresis Electrophoresis, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron, "amber") and φόρησις (phórēsis, "the act of bearing"), is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric fie ...

and

Mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...

derived composition database of N-, O-, glycosphingolipid (GSL) glycans and free oligosaccharides associated with a range of glycoproteins, glycolipids and biotherapeutics. * UniCarb-DR a MSⁿ data repository for glycan structures
GlycoPOST
a mass spectra repository for glycomics and glycoproteomics The following projects refer to the MIRAGE standards:
GlyTouCan
is a glycan structure repository where unique identifiers are assigned to individually reported glycan structures
UniCarbKB
a database of glycans and glycoproteins

a data integration and dissemination project for carbohydrate and glycoconjugate related data
GlyConnect
an integrated platform for glycomics and glycoproteomics

References

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External links

Record in Fairsharing.org for MIRAGE Sample Preparation guidelinesRecord in Fairsharing.org for MIRAGE Mass spectrometry guidelinesRecord in Fairsharing.org for MIRAGE Glycan array guidelinesRecord in Fairsharing.org for MIRAGE Liquid chromatography guidelines
Bioinformatics Knowledge representation Glycobiology Glycomics Carbohydrates