Victors: a web-based knowledge base of virulence factors in human and animal pathogens.

Journal: Nucleic acids research
Published Date: Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

Virulence factors (VFs) are molecules that allow microbial pathogens to overcome host defense mechanisms and cause disease in a host. It is critical to study VFs for better understanding microbial pathogenesis and host defense mechanisms. Victors (http://www.phidias.us/victors) is a novel, manually curated, web-based integrative knowledge base and analysis resource for VFs of pathogens that cause infectious diseases in human and animals. Currently, Victors contains 5296 VFs obtained via manual annotation from peer-reviewed publications, with 4648, 179, 105 and 364 VFs originating from 51 bacterial, 54 viral, 13 parasitic and 8 fungal species, respectively. Our data analysis identified many VF-specific patterns. Within the global VF pool, cytoplasmic proteins were more common, while adhesins were less common compared to findings on protective vaccine antigens. Many VFs showed homology with host proteins and the human proteins interacting with VFs represented the hubs of human-pathogen interactions. All Victors data are queriable with a user-friendly web interface. The VFs can also be searched by a customized BLAST sequence similarity searching program. These VFs and their interactions with the host are represented in a machine-readable Ontology of Host-Pathogen Interactions. Victors supports the 'One Health' research as a vital source of VFs in human and animal pathogens.

Authors

  • Samantha Sayers
    Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Li Li
    Department of Gastric Surgery, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
  • Edison Ong
    University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Shunzhou Deng
    Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Guanghua Fu
    Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Yu Lin
    Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia.
  • Brian Yang
    Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Shelley Zhang
    Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Zhenzong Fa
    Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System and Research Service, VA Ann Arbor Health Systems, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, USA.
  • Bin Zhao
    University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  • Zuoshuang Xiang
    University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.
  • Yongqing Li
    Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Municipal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China.
  • Xing-Ming Zhao
    Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
  • Michal A Olszewski
    Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System and Research Service, VA Ann Arbor Health Systems, Ann Arbor 48109, MI, USA.
  • Luonan Chen
    Key Laboratory of Systems Health Science of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, China.
  • Yongqun He
    University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA ; Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, and Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 MSRB III, 1150 W. Medical Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

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