Computers can be used to identify cancer treatment targets that wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have been considered, according to research by an Australian team.
Professor Mark Ragan from The University of Queensland鈥檚 , who led the research team, says they found that computational methods could be used to untangle the intricacies of cancer biology.
鈥淐ancer is not a disease caused by single genes. Rather, it is changes to the underlying gene regulatory networks that prompt tumours to grow and spread,鈥� he said.
鈥淯nderstanding gene regulatory networks in healthy and diseased tissues is therefore critical to devising effective cancer treatments.
鈥淭hese networks involve vast numbers of interactions between different molecules, making conventional experimental approaches, which are focused on individual genes, too time-consuming,鈥� he said.
The findings came from the team鈥檚 analysis of different computational methods of studying gene regulatory networks.
By contrast, computational methods can examine complex networks of interacting molecules across entire systems. The challenge for researchers is determining the accuracy of such methods.
The IMB team undertook a thorough analysis of nine different computational methods that represented a variety of approaches. They then took the method judged most effective and applied it to real ovarian cancer data.
鈥淥ur evaluation demonstrated that it鈥檚 possible in some cases to use computational methods to gain insights into cancer biology.
鈥淭hese methods can pinpoint targets that wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have been considered, which can then be validated with laboratory experiments.鈥�
The findings are published in the current edition of the scientific journal Genome Medicine, where it has been nominated as part of the thematic series Cancer bioinformatics: bioinformatic methods, network biomarkers and precision medicine.
Subscribers can access the paper and view the series .
Media: Professor Mark Ragan (07 3346 2616 or m.ragan@imb.uq.edu.au) or IMB Communications (07 3346 2134 or 0418 575 247).
