Learn how to access expert‐curated pharmacological data in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY database

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY (GtoPdb) is an expert‐curated, open‐access database of information on drug targets and the substances that act on them. This publication describes the procedures for searching and downloading ligand‐target binding data and for finding detailed annotations and the most relevant literature. The database includes concise overviews of the properties of 1,700 data‐supported human drug targets and related proteins, divided into families, and 9,000 small molecule and peptide experimental ligands and approved drugs that bind to those targets. More detailed descriptions of pharmacology, function, and pathophysiology are provided for a subset of important targets.

The information is reviewed regularly by expert subcommittees of the Nomenclature and Standards Committee of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (NC-IUPHAR). A new immunopharmacology portal has recently been added, drawing together data on immunological targets, ligands, cell types, processes and diseases (read more here). The data are available for download and can be accessed computationally via Web services.

The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is developed within the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, led by Prof. Jamie Davies who took over the role from Prof. Tony Harmar upon his retirement from the University in 2014. The team comprises the developer, Dr. Simon Harding, and the curators, Dr. Adam Pawson, Dr. Elena Faccenda, Dr. Christopher Southan and Dr. Jane Armstrong.