| 1 min read
Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
LA JOLLA, Calif.—Perhaps the most significant challenge in finding prognostic markers for human diseases is the fact that most diseases don't involve individual genes but rather complex networks of interacting proteins and other biomolecules. With this in mind, researchers at UCSD and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology recently correlated breast cancer gene expression patterns with protein interaction databases to identify metabolic networks of cancer metastasis.
 
As they describe in Molecular Systems Biology, the researchers took microarray data from two cohorts of breast cancer patients, dividing the expression profiles into "metastatic" and "non-metastatic" groups. They then overlaid this data onto a pooled data set of almost 60,000 interactions of more than 11,000 proteins derived from yeast two-hybrid experiments, predicted from orthology, or curated in the literature. In total, they identify almost 400 subnetworks, which they have made available online as the Cell Circuits database.
 
The researchers found there was significantly more overlap between the two data sets at the subnetworks level than the single genes level and were relatively predictive of metastatic prognosis both within and across breast cancer cohorts. Furthermore, using the subnetwork system, the researchers could identify well established prognostic markers that are not identified in conventional gene expression screens, including HER2/neu, myc, and cyclin D1.
 
Concluded the researchers: "At present, the success of network-based pathways identification and classification support the notion that cancer is indeed a 'disease of pathways' and that the keys for understanding at least some of these pathways are encoded in the protein network."

About the Author

Related Topics

Loading Next Article...
Loading Next Article...
Subscribe to Newsletter

Subscribe to our eNewsletters

Stay connected with all of the latest from Drug Discovery News.

Subscribe

Sponsored

Clear sample tubes are shown in a clear tote with red lids in a sample prep robot with a blue and silver industrial lab background.

The crucial role of sample preparation in biotherapy manufacturing

Discover how better sample preparation can unlock improved assay accuracy and analytical results.
A black mosquito is shown on pink human skin against a blurred green backdrop.

Discovering deeper insights into malaria research

Malaria continues to drive urgent research worldwide, with new therapies and tools emerging to combat the parasite’s complex lifecycle and global burden.
Three burgundy round and linear conformations of oligonucleotides are shown against a black background.

Accelerating RNA therapeutic testing with liver microphysiological platforms

Researchers can now study oligonucleotide delivery and efficacy in a system that models a real human liver.
Drug Discovery News March 2025 Issue
Latest IssueVolume 21 • Issue 1 • March 2025

March 2025

March 2025 Issue

Explore this issue