MiCK: a database of gut microbial genes linked with chemoresistance in cancer patients

Abstract

Cancer remains a global health challenge, with significant morbidity and mortality rates. In 2020, cancer caused nearly 10 million deaths, making it the second leading cause of death worldwide. However, the emergence of chemoresistance becomes a major hurdle in successfully treating patients. Human gut microbes have been recognized for their role in modulating drug efficacy through their metabolites, ultimately leading to chemoresistance. The available databases are currently limited to knowledge regarding the interactions between gut microbiome and drugs. However, a database containing the human gut microbial gene sequences, and their effect on the efficacy of chemotherapy for cancer patients has not yet been reported. To address this challenge, we present the Microbial Chemoresistance Knowledgebase (MiCK), a comprehensive database cataloging microbial gene sequences associated with chemoresistance cancers. MiCK contains 1.6 million sequences of 29 gene types linked to chemoresistance and drug metabolism, curated manually from recent literature and sequence databases. The database supports efficient data retrieval and analysis, providing a user-friendly web interface for sequence search and download functionalities. MiCK aims to facilitate the understanding and mitigation of chemoresistance in cancers by serving as a valuable resource for researchers. Database URLhttps://microbialchemreskb.com/