Cancer signatures uncoveredAugust 18, 2008A new systematic analysis of the relationship between the neoplastic and developmental transcriptome provides an outline of trends in cancer gene expression. The research, published recently in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, describes how cancers can be divided into three groups distinguished by disparate developmental signatures. Isaac S Kohane from Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University, US, led a team of researchers who performed a comprehensive comparison of genes expressed in early developmental stages of various human tissues and those expressed in different cancers affecting these tissues. He says, "Our study reveals potentially clinically relevant differences in the gene expression of different cancer types and represents a reference framework for interpretation of smaller-scale functional studies". One of the three described groups of cancers has an early developmental phenotype and expresses genes that are characteristic of stem cells. From a developmental perspective, this group presents very homogeneously. A second, more heterogeneous group tends to be more similar to late development and is characterized by an inflammatory signature. The third is a small group of cancers that present as a transition phenotype between these two extremes and displays both characteristics. According to Kohane, "This segregation of tumors into three groups with distinct expression patterns is surprising. Clearly, the developmental trajectory provides a meaningful background for capturing large-scale differences in gene expression across diverse conditions". The study's results will lead towards a better understanding of human disease from a 'macrobiological' approach to analyzing high-throughput data. According to the authors, "Shifting our focus from single sets of genes or processes to the biology of aggregates on the order of the entire transcriptome is likely to be useful in establishing highly robust molecular correlations between seemingly unrelated disease phenotypes". BioMed Central |
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| Related Gene Expression Current Events and Gene Expression News Articles New research into the mechanisms of gene regulation A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth. The Protein Srebp2 Drives Cholesterol Formation in Prion-Infected Neuronal Cells Which May Promote Prion-Dependent Diseases The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells. Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and opens the door for another to deliver the deathblow. Penn Study Provides First Clear Idea of How Rare Bone Disease Progresses An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is taking the first step in developing a treatment for a rare genetic disorder called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), in which the body's skeletal muscles and soft connective tissue turns to bone, immobilizing patients over a lifetime with a second skeleton. Why can't chimps speak? If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not? Treatment to improve degenerating muscle gains strength A study appearing in Science Translational Medicine puts scientists one step closer to clinical trials to test a gene delivery strategy to improve muscle mass and function in patients with certain degenerative muscle disorders. BUSM researchers show dieters can experience neurobiological similarities of drug addicts Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that intermittent access to foods rich in fat and sugar induces changes in the brain which are comparable to those observed in drug dependence. FDA approved leukemia drugs shows promise in ovarian cancer cells The drug Sprycel, approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, significantly inhibited the growth and invasiveness of ovarian cancer cells and also promoted their death, a study by researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found. Deciphering the regulatory code Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Experimental agent reduces breast cancer metastasis to bone Researchers have reduced breast cancer metastasis to bone using an experimental agent to inhibit ROCK, a protein that was found to be over-expressed in metastatic breast cancer. More Gene Expression Current Events and Gene Expression News Articles |
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