The Toxin and Toxin Target Database (T3DB), or, soon to be referred as, the Toxic Exposome Database, is a unique bioinformatics resource that combines detailed toxin data with comprehensive toxin target information. The database currently houses 3,678 toxins described by 41,602 synonyms, including pollutants, pesticides, drugs, and food toxins, which are linked to 2,073 corresponding toxin target records. Altogether there are 42,374 toxin, toxin target associations. Each toxin record (ToxCard) contains over 90 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 18,143 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. 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.
Citing the T3DB:
- Wishart D, Arndt D, Pon A, Sajed T, Guo AC, Djoumbou Y, Knox C, Wilson M, Liang Y, Grant J, Liu Y, Goldansaz SA, Rappaport SM. T3DB: the toxic exposome database. Nucleic Acids Res. 2015 Jan;43(Database issue):D928-34. 25378312
- Lim E, Pon A, Djoumbou Y, Knox C, Shrivastava S, Guo AC, Neveu V, Wishart DS. T3DB: a comprehensively annotated database of common toxins and their targets. Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Jan 38(Database issue):D781-6. 19897546