TumorHoPe2: An updated database for Tumor Homing Peptides

TL;DR

TumorHoPe2 is a comprehensive, manually curated database that significantly expands on previous data, providing detailed information on 1847 tumor homing peptides, their modifications, targeted tumor types, and validation data, to aid cancer research.

Contribution

It introduces an extensively updated database with new entries, detailed peptide information, and tools for data analysis, enhancing resources for tumor homing peptide research.

Findings

Contains 1847 entries, 1297 unique peptides, a substantial increase from previous version.

Includes data on peptide modifications, cancer cell line validation, and tumor specificity.

Provides tools and API for easy data access and integration.

Abstract

Addressing the growing need for organized data on tumor homing peptides (THPs), we present TumorHoPe2, a manually curated database offering extensive details on experimentally validated THPs. This represents a significant update to TumorHoPe, originally developed by our group in 2012. TumorHoPe2 now contains 1847 entries, representing 1297 unique tumor homing peptides, a substantial expansion from the 744 entries in its predecessor. For each peptide, the database provides critical information, including sequence, terminal or chemical modifications, corresponding cancer cell lines, and specific tumor types targeted. The database compiles data from two primary sources: phage display libraries, which are commonly used to identify peptide ligands targeting tumor-specific markers, and synthetic peptides, which are chemically modified to enhance properties such as stability, binding affinity, and specificity. Our dataset includes 594 chemically modified peptides, with 255 having N-terminal and 195 C-terminal modifications. These THPs have been validated against 172 cancer cell lines and demonstrate specificity for 37 distinct tumor types. To maximize utility for the research community, TumorHoPe2 is equipped with intuitive tools for data searching, filtering, and analysis, alongside a RESTful API for efficient programmatic access and integration into bioinformatics pipelines. It is freely available at https://webs.iiitd.edu.in/raghava/tumorhope2/