BRENDA

BRENDA (BRaunschweig ENzyme DAtabase) is a long-standing, curated repository of enzyme data focused on enzyme nomenclature, classification and functional annotation. It organizes biochemical knowledge around EC numbers and enzyme classes and provides a centralized place to look up enzyme names, synonyms, reaction descriptions, associated organisms, ligands, and related application or disease information. The database emphasizes alignment with enzymology reporting standards (the STRENDA Commission is referenced) and works with the broader enzyme community — for example through channels to propose new enzyme entries to IUBMB. The resource contains several thousand enzyme entries (a current table lists 8,697 enzymes) and tracks additions, updates and historical changes to classifications (entries frequently show transfers, deletions or mappings to newer EC numbers). BRENDA’s pages aggregate diverse pieces of evidence about an enzyme: accepted EC classification, alternative names and identifiers, comments about activity or existence, and cross-references to literature and experimental findings. It also curates information about ligands and cofactors and exposes sections such as Disease, Protein Variants & Application that link enzymology to biomedical or biotechnological contexts. For discovery and retrieval, BRENDA provides an online full‑text search with flexible query syntax. Wildcards (* and ?) are supported; searches may be restricted to specific fields and combined with simple Boolean operators (AND, OR, AND NOT). A structured EC Explorer view is available for navigating the enzyme classification hierarchy. The site stores search history for the duration of a browsing session so users can revisit prior results, and there are support/ticketing mechanisms and documentation to assist with questions or to report issues. BRENDA supports machine-readable access via downloadable JSON snapshots — for example, a JSON download file for Release 2024.1 is published with an optimized format — enabling programmatic integration into pipelines, local analysis, or bulk curation workflows. Use of the online version is explicitly free under the CC BY 4.0 license, which permits reuse with attribution. The database also links to community standards (STRENDA) and to governance routes such as proposals to IUBMB for establishing or revising EC numbers, reflecting its role as both a knowledge base and a coordination point for enzyme nomenclature and reporting standards. Typical use cases for BRENDA include literature‑grounded enzyme lookup (identifying accepted EC numbers and synonyms), mining for enzyme–ligand relationships (cofactors, inhibitors, substrates), checking historical classification changes for annotation projects, and sourcing curated enzyme lists for metabolic reconstruction or pathway modeling. Academic researchers, enzymologists, database curators and educators can use the web interface for ad hoc queries, while bioinformaticians can download the JSON release to integrate BRENDA content into annotation pipelines, comparative analyses or drug discovery workflows. Because BRENDA connects biochemical detail to disease and variant annotations, it is also useful for translational teams mapping enzymatic function to phenotypes or therapeutic targets. In summary, BRENDA is a robust, citable resource for enzyme-centric information, combining curated human-readable entries with machine-friendly JSON exports, a flexible search interface, links to community reporting standards, and mechanisms for community contribution and nomenclature updates.