CellTalkDB

CellTalkDB provides a curated database of ligand–receptor (LR) interaction pairs for human and mouse to support analysis of cell–cell communication and interpretation of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data.

Key Features:

• Extensive Coverage: Contains 3,398 human LR pairs and 2,033 mouse LR pairs, including 377 human LR pairs not present in SingleCellSignalR.
• Manual Curation and Verification: Built using text mining and manual verification, integrating known protein–protein interactions from the STRING database and literature evidence from PubMed.
• Integration with Single-Cell Technologies: Provides prior LR knowledge tailored for assessing chemical-signal-dependent cell–cell communication at single-cell resolution using scRNA-seq.
• Facilitation of Biological Insights: Enables inference of ligand–receptor–based communication mechanisms to investigate cellular phenotypic heterogeneity and tissue composition.

Scientific Applications:

• Systems Biology: Enhancing understanding of network dynamics in cell–cell communications by mapping LR interactions.
• Drug Discovery: Identifying candidate signaling components and receptors as potential drug targets through LR pathway analysis.
• Disease Mechanism Exploration: Investigating how disruptions in LR interactions contribute to disease states.

Methodology:

Construction involved text mining and manual verification, sourcing protein–protein interactions from STRING and validating LR pairs with PubMed literature.