CSNK1A1 and Gli2 as Novel Targets Identified Through an Integrative Analysis of Gene Expression Data, Protein-Protein Interaction and Pathways Networks in Glioblastoma Tumors: Can These Two Be Antagonistic Proteins?

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the malignant form of glioma, and the interplay of different pathways working in concert in GBM development and progression needs to be fully understood. Wnt signaling and sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathways, having basic similarities, are among the major pathways aberrantly activated in GBM, and hence, need to be targeted. It becomes imperative, therefore, to explore the functioning of these pathways in context of each other in GBM. An integrative approach may help provide new biological insights, as well as solve the problem of identifying common drug targets for simultaneous targeting of these pathways. The beauty of this approach is that it can recapitulate several known facts, as well as decipher new emerging patterns, identifying those targets that could be missed when relying on one type of data at a time. This approach can be easily extended to other systems to discover key patterns in the functioning of signaling molecules. Studies were designed to assess the relationship between significant differential expression of genes of the Wnt (Wnt/β-catenin canonical and Wnt non-canonical) and SHH signaling pathways and their connectivity patterns in interaction and signaling networks. Further, the aim was to decipher underlying mechanistic patterns that may be involved in a more specific way and to generate a ranked list of genes that can be used as markers or drug targets. These studies predict that Wnt pathway plays a relatively more pro-active ...

Source: Cancer Informatics - October 13, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Seema Mishra Source Type: research