Overview
Moonlighting proteins are single polypeptide chains that perform multiple, unrelated biological functions without changes in amino acid sequence.
MoonLitDB is a database of protein functions extracted from literature related to moonlighting proteins. Each function entry is predicted to be canonical (primary) or moonlighting (secondary) with a confidence score and linked to source sentences in publications. Gene identifiers are normalized using PubTator³. Annotations include species, localization, switching mechanisms, tissue context, tumour context, supporting source sentences, and exact-matched GO Slim terms.
Tutorials
Quick, step-by-step guides for common tasks in MoonLitDB. Click a question to expand.
- Open the home page and choose By Gene.
- Enter a gene symbol or Gene ID.
- Click Search and review the results card and function table.
- If the gene/protein is not present in MoonLitDB, check the cross-database presence/absence summary for other moonlighting protein databases.
- Check the evidence text and PMIDs to validate each moonlighting annotation.
Search Methods
Search for individual genes by NCBI Gene ID or gene symbol (e.g.,
GAPDH, TP53). Filter by function type (all, moonlighting,
canonical), species, and GO Slim confidence threshold.
Results: Gene cards with aggregated functions, exact-matched GO Slim terms, supporting evidence, and detailed function rows.
Query multiple genes simultaneously by entering a list of gene names or IDs. Supports bulk data retrieval with optional species and function type filters.
Results: Combined results for all genes with summary statistics and CSV/TSV/JSON export options.
Build complex queries using rule-based conditions. Search across normalized gene fields, protein/gene names, function annotations, species, localization, switching mechanisms, evidence sentences, GO slim terms, PMID/DOI, and paper metadata. Combine conditions with AND/OR logic.
Results: Individual function entries matching your query criteria.
Database Cross-Links
MoonLitDB gene cards include cross-database annotations that help you compare each gene against other moonlighting protein resources.
External resources
Cross-links summarize whether a gene is also reported in resources such as MoonProt, MoonDB, MultiTaskProtDB, UniProt, and MetaMoon.
Use these links to move from the MoonLitDB extraction to curated or independently collected moonlighting protein entries.
Presence summary
Presence/absence badges show whether the gene has supporting records in external moonlighting protein databases.
If a gene is not present in MoonLitDB, the cross-database summary can still point you to related entries in other databases.
Gene Card Drill-Downs
Gene card summaries are interactive. Click a GO term, species name, localization, switching mechanism, function type, PMID, or other summary item to open a focused pop-up.
The pop-up shows only the extracted function rows that contain the selected term, making it easier to inspect the exact evidence, source sentences, and publications behind that part of the summary.
Export Formats
All search results can be exported using the Download Results button. The current backend supports CSV, TSV, and JSON.
Export by Search Type
| Search Type | Export Content |
|---|---|
| By Gene | Matching function entries for the selected normalized gene name or NCBI Gene ID |
| Batch Search | Matching function entries for all queried gene names or NCBI Gene IDs |
| Advanced Search | All matching function entries from query |
Column Definitions
Common columns:
protein_name- Protein identifierfunction_name- Function descriptionfunction_type- "moonlighting" or "canonical"species- Organism(s)localization- Cellular location(s)switching_mechanism- Condition(s) triggering function switchgo_slims- GO slim terms from exact mappingsource_sentences- Supporting evidence from paperspmid/doi- source references
Gene normalization fields:
normalized_gene_id- final NCBI Gene IDnormalized_gene_name- normalized gene symbol/nameextracted_gene_name- gene mention extracted from source text, if available
Disclaimer
LLM-generated and automatically extracted content
- Annotations are derived using large language models (LLMs) and automated text-mining of PubMed abstracts and full-text articles.
- MoonLitDB is provided for research and exploratory use only and does not constitute medical, diagnostic, or treatment advice.
Always cross-check critical findings against the original publications (via PMIDs) and authoritative resources such as NCBI Gene and primary literature before drawing conclusions or using the data in downstream analyses.
Citations
PubTator³: Chih-Hsuan Wei, Alexis Allot, Po-Ting Lai, Robert Leaman, Shubo Tian, Ling Luo, Qiao Jin, Zhizheng Wang, Qingyu Chen, Zhiyong Lu, PubTator 3.0: an AI-powered literature resource for unlocking biomedical knowledge, Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 52, Issue W1, 5 July 2024, Pages W540–W546, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae235.
AmiGO: Carbon S, Ireland A, Mungall CJ, Shu S, Marshall B, Lewis S, AmiGO Hub, Web Presence Working Group. AmiGO: online access to ontology and annotation data. Bioinformatics. 2009 Jan;25(2):288-289. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btn615