UVREK: Development and analysis of an expression profile knowledgebase of biomolecules induced by ultraviolet radiation exposure

Abstract

Humans encounter diverse environmental factors which can have impact on their health. One such environmental factor is the ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is part of the physical component of the exposome. UV radiation is the leading cause of skin cancer and is a significant global health concern. A large body of published research has been conducted to uncover the mechanisms underlying the adverse outcomes of UV radiation exposure on living beings. These studies involve identifying the biomolecules induced upon UV radiation exposure. A few previous efforts have attempted to compile this information in the form of a database, but such earlier efforts have certain limitations. To fill this gap, we present a structured database named UVREK, containing manually curated data on biomolecules induced by UV radiation exposure from published literature. UVREK has compiled information on 985 genes, 470 proteins, 54 metabolites and 77 miRNAs along with their metadata. Thereafter, an enrichment analysis performed on the human gene set of UVREK database showed the importance of transcription related processes in UV related response, and enrichment of pathways involved in cancer and aging. While significantly contributing towards characterizing the physical component of the exposome, we expect the compiled data in UVREK will serve as a valuable resource for development of better UV protection mechanisms such as UV sensors and sunscreens. Noteworthy, UVREK is the only resource to date, compiling varied types of biomolecular responses to UV radiation with corresponding metadata. UVREK is openly accessible at: https://cb.imsc.res.in/uvrek/.