ASTRA: a comprehensive resource of stress-induced transcriptional activity in human cell lines
Tsifintaris, Margaritis Grigoriadis, Dimitris Sitmalidis, Michail Repanas, Panagiotis Anastasiadi, Christina Kavakiotis, Ioannis Sandaltzopoulos, Raphael M. Pavlopoulos, Georgios A. Giannakakis, Antonis
Tsifintaris, Margaritis
Grigoriadis, Dimitris
Sitmalidis, Michail
Repanas, Panagiotis
Anastasiadi, Christina
Kavakiotis, Ioannis
Sandaltzopoulos, Raphael M.
Pavlopoulos, Georgios A.
Giannakakis, Antonis
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Computational Biology
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Journal article
Date
2026
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English
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Abstract
The atlas of stress response activity (ASTRA) is an open-access, curated database cataloging transcriptomic responses to stress in human cell lines, organized by major stress categories to advance research on conserved and stress-specific pathways, RNA biomarkers, and disease mechanisms. It integrates and standardizes bulk RNA-seq datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), focusing on messenger RNA and long noncoding RNA expression under diverse stress conditions. Data are grouped into four categories-oxidative stress, hypoxia, heat shock, and DNA damage-with subcategories corresponding to H2O2, low oxygen, increased temperature, and UV radiation as molecular stressors, respectively. A harmonized computational pipeline ensures comparability across samples and studies. Each dataset contains stressed and matched control samples, annotated with detailed metadata, including cell line identity, tissue origin, cell-state classification (non-diseased, cancer, organoid), treatment parameters, and sequencing protocols. ASTRA allows users to query gene-level expression, perform differential expression analyses, and visualize transcriptional dynamics across datasets, conditions, and cell-type groups. By profiling both coding and noncoding transcriptomes, ASTRA facilitates the discovery of novel stress-responsive genes and RNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms. As a comprehensive resource, it supports functional genomics, systems biology, and translational research in the areas of cellular homeostasis, adaptation, and pathogenesis. ASTRA is freely accessible at https://astra-db.com/.
Citation
M. Tsifintaris et al., “ASTRA: a comprehensive resource of stress-induced transcriptional activity in human cell lines,” Nucleic Acids Res., vol. 54, no. D1, pp. D938–D948, Jan. 2026, doi: 10.1093/NAR/GKAF1174
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Nucleic Acids Research
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Oxford University Press