Reactome is a world-leading, curated resource for biomolecular pathways, with >1,200 citations in 2019 and >80,000 distinct users monthly. It is developed in international collaboration with EMBL-EBI as one of four partners. Reactome’s content is presented through a multi-scale visualisation system, complemented by advanced analysis tools. Beyond scientific analysis, Reactome is uniquely suited for teaching and training in molecular biology as well as in bioinformatics, through its open source, open data policy. For its content, Reactome critically depends on external domain experts who, in collaboration with professional Reactome curators ensure consistent, high quality of the curated pathways.
At University of Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine within the broader group of the Slovenian ELIXIR Node, there is ample domain expertise in a variety of multifactorial disorders and pathways beyond that. For example, we are experts in cholesterol homeostasis, particularly in sterols of the cholesterol synthesis pathway, which were recently found as ligands of nuclear receptor RORC. The expertise is also in the cholesterol metabolism and connections to liver pathologies, the circadian clock, Epo receptor and signalling, molecular aspects of cancer, epigenetics of cancer and brain disorders, in cytoskeleton abnormalities, etc.
The aim of the LEAP project is to establish staff exchange and regular interaction between ELIXIR Slovenia and EMBL-EBI, supporting expert curation and user experience testing of Reactome by ELIXIR Slovenia domain experts, and establish routine use of Reactome for data analysis, teaching, and training in Slovenia. This is expected to lead to improved Reactome user interface and content, and advanced pathway analysis for high throughput biomolecular data in the Slovenian research community.