Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is CellCards?

CellCards is an ontology-backed knowledgebase of individual cells and cell connectomes.

2. How many types of cards covered by CellCards?

CellCards includes two types of cell cards: (i) cards for individual cell types, such as podocyte, and (ii) cards for cell connectomes or functional tissue units as described below.

3. What is connectome?

The term "connectome" has been used to describe the network of connections between neurons in the nervous system, which has proved to be a valuable approach to understanding brain function in health and disease. CellCards extends the approach of studying connected functional cellular units within other organs, tissues, and cell types. Two general patterns of cell connectomes are envisioned: (i) cells that are in direct or proximate contact and work together as a functional unit, such as the renal corpuscle connectome for blood filtering, and (ii) cells that are functionally connected via networks of messaging molecules (e.g., hormones and cytokines or ligands and receptors), such as the cells of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS), which act as a functional unit to regulate blood pressure.

4. How the CellCards here differs from other related cellcards projects such as the LungMAP cellcards?

Instead of cells in one organ, our CellCards aims to cover cells and cell connectoms in various organs and tissues. The CellCards development has been inspired by the GeneCards.org, which also has a broad coverage. In addition, our CellCards are very ontology-oriented, supported by interoperable ontologies from the OBO library. Since CellCards.org project just began, we expect that more features will come out later. Stay tuned ...

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