  Overall, brane inflation is compatible with the recent analysis of the WMAP
data. Here we explore the constraints of WMAP and 2dFGRS data on the various
brane inflationary scenarios. Brane inflation naturally ends with the
production of cosmic strings, which may provide a way to distinguish these
models observationally. We argue that currently available data cannot exclude a
non-negligible contribution from cosmic strings definitively. We perform a
partial statistical analysis of mixed models that include a sub-dominant
contribution from cosmic strings. Although the data favor models without cosmic
strings, we conclude that they cannot definitively rule out a
cosmic-string-induced contribution of $\sim 10 %$ to the observed temperature,
polarization and galaxy density fluctuations. These results imply that $G\mu
\lesssim 3.5\times 10^{-7}(\lambda/0.25)\sqrt{B/0.1}$, where $\lambda$ is a
dimensionless parameter related to the interstring distance, and $B$ measures
the importance of perturbations induced by cosmic strings. We argue that,
conservatively, the data available currently still permit $B\lesssim 0.1$.
Precision measurements sensitive to the B-mode polarization produced by vector
density perturbation modes driven by the string network could provide evidence
for these models. Accurate determinations of $n_s(k)$, the scalar fluctuation
index, could also distinguish among various brane inflation models.
