Database and web implementation canSAR is running on an Apache web server implemented in PHP, Javascript, Perl and Java. The data reside in an Oracle 11g database. Chemical compound search and handling is supported by the Accelrys direct cartridge. The data processing pipelines are written in Perl, Python and Java and utilize Openbabel, CDK (41) and Pipeline Pilot (Accelrys Inc). CASE STUDIES USING CANSAR canSAR has been well documented with quick start guides and detailed case studies. Below are some example use cases addressing the major functionality. Obtain state of knowledge about a target canSAR provides target synopses, which present categor- ized summaries of the knowledge that is available for each target. This synopsis is usually the ﬁrst point of access for a user with a given target in mind. These summaries are Nucleic Acids Research, 2012, Vol. 40, Database issue D951 divided into structural annotation, drug and clinical can- didates, structural and ligand-based druggability, screen- ing and chemistry, RNAi studies, pathway, cell line and tissue expression, ampliﬁcation and interaction networks. Figure 3A shows a target synopsis with the gene ex- pression section selected and known drugs (Figure 3B). Figure 3C shows a hierarchical disease tree with expres- sion annotations obtained through ArrayExpress. A user can navigate to other areas of canSAR from many of the sections within the synopsis. Target synopsis can be accessed from any target search results page. Identifying potential tool compounds for a target of interest If a target has—itself—been chemically screened, the bioactive compounds are summarized and can be obtained via the target synopsis described above. However, if a target is not itself screened, or if a wider selection of compounds is required, likely active compounds can be obtained via homology searches. Figure 4A shows the results of a sequence similarity Figure 3. View of some components of target synopsis for Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). The main panel (A) shows gene expression ordered by the highest expressed probeset from the NCI60 cell line panel expression data. The details of all available probesets can be seen in the expander. At the top of the main panel is the target synopsis banner, which is made up of icons that indicate certain properties. From the left, these properties are: structure availability, drug target status, RNAi data availability, enzyme status and mutation data availability. Approved drugs are shown in (B). If the drug is an antibody, then a generic antibody icon is displayed. If the drug is a small molecule then a link to the compound synopsis is provided. Panel (C) shows tissue sample expression data from ArrayExpress hierarchically classiﬁed into cancer types.