chemistry

Ki Database

Ki Database is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ki Database rather than just read about it. In short: The Ki Database (or Ki DB) is a public domain bioinformatics database of published binding affinities (Ki) of drugs and other chemical compounds for a wide range of biological targets. The database primarily stores inhibition constant (Ki) values, which measure the potency of a compound in inhibiting the binding of a radioligand to a specific target, such as a receptor, neurotransmitter transporter, ion channel, or…

Key takeaways

Ki Database belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ki Database to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ki Database from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Ki Database (or Ki DB) is a public domain bioinformatics database of published binding affinities (Ki) of drugs and other chemical compounds for a wide range of biological targets. The database primarily stores inhibition constant (Ki) values, which measure the potency of a compound in inhibiting the binding of a radioligand to a specific target, such as a receptor, neurotransmitter transporter, ion channel, or enzyme. The resource is maintained by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is funded by the NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program and by a gift from the Heffter Research Institute. As of April 2010, the database had data for 7,449 compounds at 738 different receptors and, as of 27 April 2018, 67 696 Ki values.

Purpose and uses The Ki Database serves as a data warehouse for both internally generated data and data curated from published scientific literature. It is created and maintained by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (PDSP), which is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and directed by pharmacologist Bryan L. Roth. The resource is a key tool in the fields of pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and neuroscience for identifying the molecular targets of psychoactive compounds, predicting off-target effects, and guiding drug discovery efforts. As of 2017, the PDSP was testing an average of 4,000 compounds in over 215,000 assays annually, with the data being made publicly available through the database. The program is supported by an NIMH contract and has also received funding from the Heffter Research Institute. The Ki database has data useful for both chemical biology and chemogenetics.

See also BindingDB ChEMBL DrugBank Guide to PHARMACOLOGY Inhibition constant (Ki)

References

External links Description Search form BindingDB.org - A similar publicly available database Archived 22 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ki Database

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ki Database claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ki Database before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ki Database ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ki Database

In research: Ki Database appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ki Database in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ki Database is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biological databases, Chemical databases, Public domain databases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ki Database outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ki Database in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ki Database means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ki Database out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ki Database in simple terms?

Why does Ki Database matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ki Database?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ki Database.