AAAKB: A manually curated database for tracking and predicting genes of Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)

PLoS One. 2023 Dec 15;18(12):e0289966. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289966. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), an extremely dangerous vascular disease with high mortality, causes massive internal bleeding due to aneurysm rupture. To boost the research on AAA, efforts should be taken to organize and link the information about AAA-related genes and their functions. Currently, most researchers screen through genetic databases manually, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. Here, we developed "AAAKB" a manually curated knowledgebase containing genes, SNPs and pathways associated with AAA. In order to facilitate researchers to further explore the mechanism network of AAA, AAAKB provides predicted genes that are potentially associated with AAA. The prediction is based on the protein interaction information of genes collected in the database, and the random forest algorithm (RF) is used to build the prediction model. Some of these predicted genes are differentially expressed in patients with AAA, and some have been reported to play a role in other cardiovascular diseases, illustrating the utility of the knowledgebase in predicting novel genes. Also, AAAKB integrates a protein interaction visualization tool to quickly determine the shortest paths between target proteins. As the first knowledgebase to provide a comprehensive catalog of AAA-related genes, AAAKB will be an ideal research platform for AAA. Database URL: http://www.lqlgroup.cn:3838/AAAKB/.

MeSH terms

  • Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal* / genetics
  • Databases, Genetic*
  • Humans

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81970414 to Q. L). This work was supported by the 2018 Industrial Internet Innovation and Development Project —Industrial Internet Identification Resolution System: National Top-Level Node Construction Project (Phase I). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.