ROCK: a breast cancer functional genomics resource

Area of Science:

• Genomics and Bioinformatics
• Cancer Research
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Breast cancer exhibits significant clinical and pathological heterogeneity, necessitating molecular sub-typing.
• Large-scale functional screening, including RNA interference, is augmenting molecular profiling efforts.
• Integrating diverse datasets is crucial for advancing breast cancer research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce ROCK, a publicly accessible online resource for integrating breast cancer functional and molecular profiling data.
• To facilitate the cross-correlation and navigation of various breast cancer datasets.
• To enhance the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web portal (ROCK) with a user-friendly interface.
• Integration of gene expression, array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), and RNA interference (RNAi) screen data.
• Implementation of tools for interrogating gene lists within functional genomic datasets, interaction networks, pathways, Gene Ontology (GO) terms, mutations, and drug targets.
• Inclusion of interactive visualizations for datasets and networks.

Main Results:

• ROCK provides a centralized platform for accessing and analyzing collated breast cancer data.
• The resource enables researchers to explore data at the gene, sample, or study level.
• Facilitates the integration of diverse data types, including functional genomic and molecular profiling information.

Conclusions:

• ROCK offers researchers rapid access to integrated breast cancer profiling data.
• The portal supports the cross-correlation of different data types, enhancing the discovery process.
• ROCK is expected to accelerate the identification of novel targets and biomarkers for breast cancer.