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Updated: May 24, 2026
09:18
Identification of Intracellular Signaling Events Induced in Viable Cells by Interaction with Neighboring Cells Undergoing Apoptotic Cell Death
Published on: December 27, 2016
Extending signaling pathways with protein-interaction networks. Application to apoptosis
Joan Planas-Iglesias1, Emre Guney, Javier García-García
1Structural Bioinformatics Group, GRIB, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Omics : a Journal of Integrative Biology
|March 6, 2012
Summary
Researchers identified 273 candidate proteins involved in apoptosis signaling pathways by transferring functional annotations. This discovery aids in understanding diseases like cancer and developing new therapies.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Bioinformatics
Background:
- Cellular responses to environmental changes involve signaling pathways, which are often altered in diseases like cancer and viral infections.
- Downregulation of apoptosis signaling pathways is crucial for the progression of certain human pathologies.
- Identifying proteins modulating these pathways is essential for diagnostics and therapeutic development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify novel proteins potentially involved in human apoptosis signaling pathways.
- To leverage protein interaction networks for functional annotation transfer.
- To refine predictions using combined scoring methods for improved relevance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized various scoring methods to transfer functional annotation from known apoptosis pathway proteins to their interactors.
- Applied specific combinations of scoring methods to generate a refined set of candidate proteins.
- Compared predictions against proteins associated with apoptosis signaling in recent literature.
Main Results:
- All scoring methods yielded significant predictions compared to a random model, but the initial set was too large.
- A final prediction identified 273 candidate proteins potentially relevant to apoptosis signaling.
- A portion of these candidates possess known functions aligning with apoptosis, while many remain unannotated.
Conclusions:
- The study proposes 273 candidate proteins for further investigation in apoptosis signaling.
- The findings offer new avenues for experimental research into the roles of these proteins.
- This work contributes to the understanding of apoptosis regulation in disease and potential therapeutic targets.
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