BRENDA – The enzyme information system – an ELIXIR Core Data Resource
Creators: name: Ulbrich, Sandra
name: Chang, Antje
name: Jeske, Lisa
name: Hofmann, Julia
name: Helmecke, Julia
name: Schomburg, Ida
name: Jahn, Dieter
name: Schomburg, Dietmar
Publisher: name: F1000 Research Limited
Year: 2020

description: The BRENDA enzyme database is the main enzyme and enzyme-ligand information system worldwide. In 2018 BRENDA was appointed <b>ELIXIR Core Data Resource</b> due to the fundamental importance to biological and biomedical research and long-term preservation of biological data. BRENDA is part of the <b>de.NBI</b> (German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure), the German Node of <b>ELIXIR. </b>BRENDA belongs to the <b>de.NBI</b> service center for Biological Data (BioData) providing excellent bioinformatics services and resources for life sciences research in academia and industry.<br> <br>The main goal of BRENDA is to offer scientists of all parts in life sciences (biotechnology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacy, medicine, food technology etc.) the access to full information on classified enzymes, their function, metabolic role, structure, specificity, tools for exploring pathways, linking metabolomic data to biochemical pathways, tools for exploring the functional properties of enzyme-like active sites and substrate-enzyme interactions. Established in 1987 BRENDA provides continuity and reliable data, continuous curation and bi-annual updates with information on existing enzymes and the integration of newly discovered enzymes.<br> <br>Being part of <b>de.NBI</b> and <b>ELIXIR</b> enables the BRENDA team to share and exchange data and information with other partners and services in bioinformatics, as well as integrated bioinformatic resources. BRENDA data are interconnected with other Core Data Resources (i.e. UniProt, ChEBI, PDB) We offer training events, workshops, summer schools, and online and video training materials to everybody in life science to gain new insights to enzymes, which representthe largest and by far most complex group of proteins.<br> <br>Enzymes play an essential role in all processes of life, including metabolism, gene expression, cell division, the immune system, and others. Their functions, being also connected to most diseases or stress control, renders them interesting targets for research and applications in biotechnology, medical treatments, or diagnosis. BRENDA provides more than 4 million data for ~90,000 enzymes from ~13,000 organisms, manually evaluated and extracted from ~150,000 primary literature references, combined with information by text and data mining, data integration, and prediction algorithms. Supplements comprise disease-related data, protein sequences, 3D structures, predicted enzyme locations, and genome annotations. Their functional parameters and other properties are collected, integrated, and made available to the scientific community.<br> <br>BRENDA offers an easy access to enzyme information. The user can perform text-based queries, covering quick searches, fulltext or advanced searches. Structure-based queries to search for enzyme-ligand interactions are provided, i.e. by drawing a chemical compound structure in a molecule editor for substructure searches. The visualization of enzyme data and information are presented in the recently completely revised BRENDA pathway maps, word maps, and the 3D view of enzymes. Furthermore BRENDA provides prediction tools, genome and taxonomy informations, and the access to diverse enzyme-related ontologies, i.e. BRENDA Tissue Ontolgy (BTO).