KEGG-based disease-drug-variant research using KEGG Disease, Drug, Network, and Variant databases. Covers disease gene lookup, drug-target analysis, disease-gene-drug network exploration, and variant annotation. Use when users ask about KEGG disease entries, KEGG drug targets, disease-variant-drug relationships, or KEGG network analysis.
Systematic exploration of disease-drug-variant relationships using KEGG's curated databases.
KEGG maps diseases to pathways and drugs to targets, but the real value is in the connections — which pathways link a disease gene to a drug target? This is a network question, not a simple lookup. A gene appearing in a KEGG disease entry has been editorially reviewed as mechanistically relevant; a drug entry with a confirmed target is more reliable than one inferred from pathway co-membership. When using KEGG for drug repurposing, always ask: is the drug-target relationship direct (the drug binds the gene product) or indirect (the drug affects a pathway that contains the gene)? Direct relationships are far stronger evidence. KEGG coverage is not exhaustive — absence from KEGG does not mean absence of biological involvement; complement with Reactome, WikiPathways, or CTD for broader coverage. ID namespace differences are a frequent source of errors: KEGG uses its own gene IDs (e.g., hsa:7157 for TP53), so always convert external IDs before querying KEGG-specific tools.
LOOK UP DON'T GUESS: Do not assume KEGG disease IDs, drug IDs, or gene IDs from memory — always search first with , , or . Do not assume which pathways link a disease gene to a drug; use and to retrieve the actual connections.
KEGG_search_diseaseKEGG_search_drugKEGG_convert_idsKEGG_link_entriesKEGG_get_network| Tool | Key Params | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| KEGG_search_disease | keyword | Disease entries matching keyword |
| KEGG_get_disease | disease_id (e.g., "H00004") | Disease details: genes, drugs, pathways |
| KEGG_get_disease_genes | disease_id | All genes for a disease |
| KEGG_search_drug | keyword | Drug entries matching keyword |
| KEGG_get_drug | drug_id (e.g., "D00123") | Drug details: targets, pathways, metabolism |
| KEGG_get_drug_targets | drug_id | Molecular targets for a drug |
| KEGG_search_network | keyword | Network entries (disease-gene-drug) |
| KEGG_get_network | network_id | Network details and relationships |
| KEGG_search_variant | keyword | Variant entries matching keyword |
| KEGG_get_variant | variant_id | Variant details and disease associations |
| KEGG_convert_ids | source_db, target_db, ids | Convert identifiers between KEGG and external databases (e.g., NCBI Gene ↔ KEGG gene IDs, UniProt ↔ KEGG) |
| KEGG_link_entries | target_db, source_db_or_ids | Find cross-database relationships (e.g., all genes linked to a pathway, all drugs linked to a disease) |
Phase 1: Disease Lookup -> Phase 2: Disease Genes -> Phase 3: Drug Search
-> Phase 4: Drug Targets -> Phase 5: Network/Variant Context -> Report
Search and retrieve KEGG disease entries.
# Search for cancer-related diseases
diseases = tu.tools.KEGG_search_disease(keyword="breast cancer")
# Get details for a specific disease
disease = tu.tools.KEGG_get_disease(disease_id="H00031")
Get genes associated with a KEGG disease entry.
genes = tu.tools.KEGG_get_disease_genes(disease_id="H00031")
Find KEGG drugs by name, target, or keyword.
drugs = tu.tools.KEGG_search_drug(keyword="vemurafenib")
drug_detail = tu.tools.KEGG_get_drug(drug_id="D09996")
Get molecular targets for a drug.
targets = tu.tools.KEGG_get_drug_targets(drug_id="D09996")
Explore disease-gene-drug networks and variant annotations.
# Search networks linking disease, genes, and drugs
networks = tu.tools.KEGG_search_network(keyword="BRAF melanoma")
network = tu.tools.KEGG_get_network(network_id="N00001")
# Search and get variant details
variants = tu.tools.KEGG_search_variant(keyword="BRAF V600E")
variant = tu.tools.KEGG_get_variant(variant_id="hsa:BRAF")
from tooluniverse import ToolUniverse
tu = ToolUniverse()
tu.load_tools()
# 1. Find BRAF-related diseases
diseases = tu.tools.KEGG_search_disease(keyword="BRAF")
# 2. Get disease genes for melanoma
genes = tu.tools.KEGG_get_disease_genes(disease_id="H00038")
# 3. Search for BRAF-targeting drugs
drugs = tu.tools.KEGG_search_drug(keyword="BRAF inhibitor")
# 4. Get targets for vemurafenib
targets = tu.tools.KEGG_get_drug_targets(drug_id="D09996")
# 5. Get BRAF variant info
variants = tu.tools.KEGG_search_variant(keyword="BRAF V600E")
# 6. Explore disease-gene-drug network
networks = tu.tools.KEGG_search_network(keyword="BRAF melanoma")
Use KEGG_convert_ids to map between KEGG identifiers and external databases before or after lookups:
# Convert NCBI Gene IDs to KEGG gene IDs for human (hsa)
result = tu.tools.KEGG_convert_ids(source_db="ncbi-geneid", target_db="hsa", ids=["672", "675"])
# Convert UniProt accessions to KEGG entries
result = tu.tools.KEGG_convert_ids(source_db="up", target_db="hsa", ids=["P38398"])
Use KEGG_link_entries to retrieve relationships between KEGG databases:
# Find all KEGG pathway IDs that contain a given gene
result = tu.tools.KEGG_link_entries(target_db="pathway", source_db_or_ids="hsa:7157")
# Find all genes linked to a specific pathway
result = tu.tools.KEGG_link_entries(target_db="hsa", source_db_or_ids="path:hsa05210")
These tools are especially useful when you have external IDs (Entrez Gene, UniProt, ChEMBL) and need to bridge into KEGG's namespace, or when you want a complete gene-pathway or drug-disease adjacency list.
tooluniverse-systems-biology for Reactome/WikiPathways cross-reftooluniverse-drug-mechanism-research for ChEMBL/DailyMed MOAtooluniverse-cancer-variant-interpretation for CIViC/ClinVartooluniverse-adverse-event-detection for FAERS data| Grade | Criteria | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Strong | KEGG disease entry with curated gene list, drug with confirmed target, pathway mechanistically linked | H00031 (breast cancer) with BRCA1/BRCA2 genes, D09996 (vemurafenib) targeting BRAF |
| Moderate | Disease-gene link in KEGG but no drug-target validation, or network entry without variant data | KEGG disease entry lists gene, but drug targets are inferred from pathway membership |
| Weak | Keyword search hit only, no curated disease-gene-drug relationship in KEGG | Drug found by name search but not linked to the disease in KEGG network |
| Insufficient | No KEGG entries found, or only cross-database ID conversion available | Rare disease not curated in KEGG Disease |
KEGG_convert_ids to map from external IDs (NCBI Gene, UniProt) before querying KEGG-specific tools. Failed conversions may indicate the gene is not in KEGG's curated set.Markdown report with: