Toxin and Toxin Target Database (T3DB)

The Toxin and Toxin Target Database (T3DB) is a unique bioinformatics resource that combines detailed toxin data with comprehensive toxin target information. The database currently houses over 2900 toxins described by over 34 200 synonyms, including pollutants, pesticides, drugs, and food toxins, which are linked to over 1300 corresponding toxin target records. Altogether there are over 33 800 toxin, toxin target associations. Each toxin record (ToxCard) contains over 50 data fields and holds information such as chemical properties and descriptors, toxicity values, molecular and cellular interactions, and medical information. This information has been extracted from over 5600 sources, which include other databases, government documents, books, and scientific literature. The focus of the T3DB is on providing mechanisms of toxicity and target proteins for each toxin. This dual nature of the T3DB, in which toxin and toxin target records are interactively linked in both directions, makes it unique from existing databases. It is also fully searchable and supports extensive text, sequence, chemical structure, and relational query searches. The T3DB is housed on an Apple XServe in the Wishart Lab on the University of Alberta campus, and consists of a LIMS built using the Ruby On Rails framework along with a Perl-based HTML public interface. It is both modelled after and closely linked to the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) and DrugBank. Potential applications of T3DB include toxin metabolism prediction, toxin/drug interaction prediction, and general toxin hazard awareness by the public, making it applicable to various fields. Overall, the variety and accessibility of the T3DB make it a valuable resource for both the casual user and the advanced researcher. 

Marvin used for ChemQuery