title: World Wide Web-based access to heterogenous information resources for cytokine research and education.
abstract: Cytokines are currently the focus of intense research efforts, and information related to cytokine biology is expanding at an extremely rapid rate. The primary literature has become insufficient as a source for timely information, and efficient searches of the older literature are complicated by the nature of cytokine nomenclature. A few computer-accessible cytokine-related data sources have recently been developed, but these are typically limited in scope and not integrated with other information resources. We have developed Cytokine Explorer, a World Wide Web (WWW)-based resource to provide access to and guidance in use of information for research and education in cytokine biology. The resource consists of: (1) a searchable thesaurus of cytokine nomenclature; (2) a cytokine reagent database containing information from academic institutions and commercial sources; (3) a set of links to cytokine-related WWW sites; and (4) a database of functional information retrieval maps for guided retrieval of cytokine information from combinations of heterogeneous sources.
authors.affiliation: Medical Informatics Group, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia 65211, USA.
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Murtaugh
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D016207:Cytokines; D007255:Information Services; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D007256:Information Systems; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines