We designed and developed NEXUS—a new natural products screening database and related suite of software applications-to utilize the spectacular increases in assay capacity of the modern high throughput screening (HTS) environment. NEXUS not only supports seamless integration with separate HTS systems, but supports user-customized integration with external laboratory automation, particularly sample preparation systems. Designed and developed based on a detailed process model for natural products drug discovery, NEXUS comprises two integrated parts: (1) a single schema of Oracle tables and callable procedures and functions, and (2) software "front-ends" to the database developed using Microsoft Excel and Oracle Discovery/2000. Many of the back-end processing functions were written in Programming Language/Structured Query Language (PL/SQL) to provide an Application Programmer's Interface, which allows end users to create custom applications with little input from information technology professionals.
References
1.
Lynch, N. (1999). Integrating HTS data within the discovery process using advanced web-based informatics. In Abstracts of Poster Sessions, 5th Annual Conference of the Society for Biomolecular Screening, Edinburgh, UK, September 13-16, p. 150.
2.
Thiericke, R;Grabley, S., Geschwill, K. (1999). Automation strategies in drug discovery. In Grabley S., Thiericke R. (eds.), Drug Discovery from Nature, pp. 56-71. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
