The reference query form is used to retrieve scientific literature. CTD contains a subset of PubMed® articles that discuss chemicals and discuss genes and proteins of interest.
See also: Performing Advanced Queries.
The name, symbol or CAS Registry Number of a chemical cited in the title, abstract or MeSH annotation of a reference, or involved in an interaction curated from a reference. Synonyms are also matched.
Examples: dioxin, 1746-01-6, chemtreeno:D02.455.526.439.337
CTD's chemical vocabulary consists of a subset of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®), the hierarchical vocabulary from the U.S. National Library of Medicine. More
The chemical vocabulary is hierarchical, so you may search by a narrow (e.g., “copper”) or broad term (e.g., “heavy metals”). Queries that use broad terms retrieve results matching the broad terms as well as related, more specific terms.
You may enter your query term in the open field or choose a term from the hierarchical vocabulary by clicking the Select button and navigating through the tree.
CTD curates specific chemical–gene and protein interactions in vertebrates and invertebrates from the published literature. You may search exclusively references that have curated interactions by selecting a term in this field. Selecting ANY will match any interaction type, and effectively limits your query to references with curated interactions. Each interaction has a degree and type as defined below.
Degree. Each chemical–gene interaction curated for CTD is qualified by one of 4 possible degrees: increases, decreases, affects or does not affect (e.g., chemical X increases expression of gene Y mRNA). The degree affects is used when the reference does not describe a more specific degree.
An interaction type must be selected in order to specify a degree. At least one degree must be checked when a type is selected.
Type. To select or unselect multiple interaction types, press the Ctrl key (PC) or ⌘/Open-Apple/Command key (Mac) while clicking. Interaction types are searchable in the following hierarchy:
A gene or protein name, symbol or accession ID cited in the title, abstract or MeSH annotation of a reference, or involved in an interaction curated from a reference. Synonyms are also matched.
To search by NCBI Gene accession ID, you must include “geneid:” before the accession number.
Examples: ahr, aryl hydrocarbon receptor
The cross-species gene vocabulary (symbols, names, and synonyms) in CTD is derived from the Gene database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. CTD curators may add to this vocabulary as required (e.g., to represent a species-specific gene that is not curated in NCBI Gene).
Each curated chemical–gene interaction includes the form of the gene that is involved (e.g., promoter, mRNA, protein). Gene forms may be specified when searching for curated interaction data.
An interaction type must be selected in order to specify gene forms.
To select or unselect multiple gene forms, press the Ctrl key (PC) or ⌘/Open-Apple/Command key (Mac) while clicking. Gene forms are searched in the hierarchy shown on the query form.
A disease involved in a curated chemical or gene relationship.
The common or scientific name of an organism or higher-order taxon (a) in which a chemical–gene interaction was curated from a reference.
Examples: zebrafish, teleostei, taxonid:9685
CTD's organism vocabulary consists of the Eumetazoa (vertebrates and invertebrates) component of the Taxonomy Database from NCBI, a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The vocabulary is hierarchical, so you may search by a specific organism (e.g., “homo sapiens”) or a higher-order taxon (e.g., “mammalia”). A query that uses a higher-order taxon will retrieve results that match that taxon as well as the more specific taxa included within it.
You may enter your query term in the open field or choose a term from the hierarchical vocabulary by clicking the Select button and navigating through the tree.
Words and/or phrases contained in the title or abstract of a reference. You may use Boolean operators in your query.
Examples: estrogen AND endometrial, dioxin
The publication year or range of years for the references you seek. To specify a single year, select the same year in both the “from” and “through” fields. To specify a range of years, select different years in each field. To specify only the lower bound of a range, select a year in the “from” field and leave the “through” field blank. To specify only the upper bound of a range, select a year in the “through” field and leave the “from” field blank.
PubMed accession identifiers of reference. Separate multiple IDs with spaces.
Example: 11748833 16882451
The number of results displayed per page. A lower number provides faster response.
Click the Search button to submit your query.
Click the Clear button to clear and reset all fields to their default values.