ASTRA: a comprehensive resource of stress-induced transcriptional activity in human cell lines

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/.