JASPAR

JASPAR is an open-access database of manually curated, non-redundant transcription factor (TF) binding profiles for eukaryotes. Supported by ELIXIR Norway, it is intended for researchers engaged in genetic and genomic work who need experimentally grounded TF binding site models. The database draws profiles from published collections of experimentally defined TF binding sites, and distinguishes itself from similar resources such as TRANSFAC through its open data access, non-redundancy, and focus on data quality.

All data in JASPAR is freely available without registration, making it accessible to a broad range of users from academic researchers to bioinformaticians building automated analysis pipelines.

Key Features

• Curated binding profiles — manually verified, non-redundant TF binding site models backed by experimental evidence.
• Multi-level search — profiles can be searched by organism, gene, or protein, or browsed across 6 taxonomic groups.
• Programmatic access — a RESTful API and the pyJASPAR Python interface support automated queries and integration into external workflows.
• Community forum — a Q&A forum hosted directly on the JASPAR website provides discussion and user support.
• Open access — all data is freely available with no registration required.

Getting Started

1. Visit the JASPAR database and search or browse TF binding profiles.
2. Use the search function to locate profiles by organism, gene name, or protein.
3. For programmatic access, use the RESTful API or install pyJASPAR via pip.

JASPAR provides both a web-based search interface and an API endpoint for programmatic access, supporting integration into bioinformatics pipelines. The database is supported by ELIXIR Norway as part of the broader ELIXIR research infrastructure for life sciences data.