https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/927937

Development of MPS-Db Data Portal

NICEATM and NC3Rs are partnering with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center, and NCATS to direct the MPS for COVID Research (MPSCoRe) working group. This group is coordinating the use of MPS to reduce animal use in studies of COVID-19 and future emerging infectious diseases.

One key activity of MPSCoRe is supporting the expansion of the MPS Database (MPS-Db) to include a COVID-19 disease portal, which went live in April 2021. Through this portal, researchers can share experimental data, analytic tools, model designs, and study components to accelerate the development and adoption of human MPS for testing therapies and improving disease understanding. The portal has links to further information and resources to support the development and application of MPS that can recapitulate the pathophysiology of COVID-19 in various organ systems. Details of commercially available MPS, as well as components used in designing and implementing SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 studies, have been uploaded to the platform to support access to existing MPS and the development of new models.

In the next phase of development of the MPS-Db, MPSCoRe members will upload and share their own COVID-19 MPS models and study data generated by them. Model details and data collected in the portal include model schematics, cell sources/types, key references, model variations, study designs, and assay data and associated metadata generated in response to various stimuli. The primary user can specify data access permissions so that other users of the database can access these data and use the in-built modeling capabilities to reanalyze them, maximizing the potential impact of each individual study. The development of the COVID-19 disease portal and the creation of a comprehensive centralized hub for COVID-19 infection and pathogenesis in the MPS-Db will potentially improve the speed and efficiency with which researchers obtain the information required to inform the design, development, and application of human MPS experimental models for therapeutic development.