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Published on: May 15, 2019
BioTD: An Online Database of Biotoxins
Gaoang Wang1, Hang Wu2, Yang Liao1
1College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China.
Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
|June 2, 2026
Summary
The Biotoxins Database (BioTD) offers extensive, open-access data on toxins and their activities, aiding drug discovery. This resource supports research by providing comprehensive toxin information for various applications.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry and Pharmacology
- Bioinformatics and Cheminformatics
Background:
- Biotoxins from diverse organisms possess high physiological activity, with some already developed into drugs.
- Existing drug design resources for biotoxins are limited by a lack of comprehensive activity data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a centralized, open-source database for biotoxin information.
- To address the need for accurate and extensive activity data in biotoxin research and drug discovery.
Main Methods:
- Compilation of data from scientific literature and patents.
- Development of the Biotoxins Database (BioTD) with structured information on toxins, activities, and mutants.
- Annotation of toxin sequences, signal peptides, and disulfide bonds.
Main Results:
- BioTD is the largest open-source toxin database, containing 14,607 records (8,185 activity records) for 8,975 toxins from over 900 species.
- Data includes five categories of physiological indicators, 1,532 mutants, refined sequences, and disulfide-bond information.
- All data is freely downloadable from http://biotoxin.net/.
Conclusions:
- BioTD provides a valuable, comprehensive resource for researchers in drug discovery and related fields.
- The database is expected to stimulate broad interest and facilitate advancements in biotoxin research.
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