NPCARE: database of natural products and fractional extracts for cancer regulation.
BACKGROUND
Natural products have increasingly attracted much attention as a valuable resource for the development of anticancer medicines due to the structural novelty and good bioavailability. This necessitates a comprehensive database for the natural products and the fractional extracts whose anticancer activities have been verified.


METHODS
NPCARE (http://silver.sejong.ac.kr/npcare) is a publicly accessible online database of natural products and fractional extracts for cancer regulation. At NPCARE, one can explore 6578 natural compounds and 2566 fractional extracts isolated from 1952 distinct biological species including plants, marine organisms, fungi, and bacteria whose anticancer activities were validated with 1107 cell lines for 34 cancer types. Each entry in NPCARE is annotated with the cancer type, genus and species names of the biological resource, the cell line used for demonstrating the anticancer activity, PubChem ID, and a wealth of information about the target gene or protein. Besides the augmentation of plant entries up to 743 genus and 197 families, NPCARE is further enriched with the natural products and the fractional extracts of diverse non-traditional biological resources.


CONCLUSIONS
NPCARE is anticipated to serve as a dominant gateway for the discovery of new anticancer medicines due to the inclusion of a large number of the fractional extracts as well as the natural compounds isolated from a variety of biological resources.
Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Anticancer Medicine Development, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Kwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05006 Korea.
Hwanho
H
Choi
College of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 27 Dongguk-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 10326 Korea.
Sun Young
SY
Cho
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Sucho-gu, Seoul, 06591 Korea.
Ho Jeong
HJ
Pak
Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141 Korea.
Youngsoo
Y
Kim
Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141 Korea.
Jung-Yun
JY
Choi
Department of Korean Gynecology, Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, 858 Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06017 Korea.
Yoon Jae
YJ
Lee
College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54538 Korea.
Byung Hee
BH
Gong
College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksandae-ro, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54538 Korea.
Yeon Seok
YS
Kang
WiFun Team, Nexon, 7 Pangyo-ro 256 gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do 13487 Korea.
Taehoon
T
Han
Hanvit Dental-Medical Hospital, 396 Seowon-daero, Wonju, Gangwon-do 26484 Korea.
Geunbae
G
Choi
Department of Clinical Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447 Korea.
Yeeun
Y
Cho
Department of Clinical Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447 Korea.
Soomin
S
Lee
Department of Clinical Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447 Korea.
Dekwoo
D
Ryoo
Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Institute of Anticancer Medicine Development, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Kwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05006 Korea.
Hwangseo
H
Park
Anticancer medicine; Database; Fractional extract; NPCARE; Natural product