Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Discovery of Driver Genes in Colorectal HT29-derived Cancer Stem-Like Tumorspheres
Published on: July 22, 2020
AlloDriver: a method for the identification and analysis of cancer driver targets
Kun Song1,2, Qian Li1,3, Wei Gao4
1Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Clinical and Fundamental Research Center, Department of Pharmacy, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine (SJTU-SM), Shanghai 200127, China.
Abstract:
Identifying the variants that alter protein function is a promising strategy for deciphering the biological consequences of somatic mutations during tumorigenesis, which could provide novel targets for the development of cancer therapies. Here, based on our previously developed method, we present a strategy called AlloDriver that identifies cancer driver genes/proteins as possible targets from mutations. AlloDriver utilizes structural and dynamic features to prioritize potentially functional genes/proteins in individual cancers via mapping mutations generated from clinical cancer samples to allosteric/orthosteric sites derived from three-dimensional protein structures. This strategy exhibits desirable performance in the reemergence of known cancer driver mutations and genes/proteins from clinical samples. Significantly, the practicability of AlloDriver to discover novel cancer driver proteins in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) was tested in a real case of human protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type K (PTPRK) through a L1143F driver mutation located at the allosteric site of PTPRK, which was experimentally validated by cell proliferation assay. AlloDriver is expected to help to uncover innovative molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis by perturbing proteins and to discover novel targets based on cancer driver mutations. The AlloDriver is freely available to all users at http://mdl.shsmu.edu.cn/ALD.
Insights
AlloDriver identifies cancer driver genes by analyzing mutation effects on protein structures. This method aids in discovering new therapeutic targets for cancer by pinpointing functional mutations.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Proteomics
- Cancer Biology
Background:
- Somatic mutations in cancer can alter protein function, offering potential therapeutic targets.
- Identifying functional variants is key to understanding tumorigenesis and developing targeted cancer therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present AlloDriver, a computational strategy for identifying cancer driver genes and proteins from mutation data.
- To leverage structural and dynamic protein features to prioritize mutations impacting protein function.
Main Methods:
- AlloDriver maps clinical cancer mutations to allosteric and orthosteric sites on 3D protein structures.
- The strategy prioritizes potentially functional genes/proteins based on mutation location and predicted impact.
Main Results:
- AlloDriver successfully identified known cancer driver mutations and genes/proteins from clinical samples.
- The method discovered a novel cancer driver mutation (L1143F) in PTPRK in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), which was experimentally validated.
Conclusions:
- AlloDriver is a validated strategy for discovering novel cancer driver proteins and mutations.
- This approach can uncover new molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis and identify new therapeutic targets.
Related Concept Videos
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
Methods of Classification and Identification
Cancer Survival Analysis
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Drug Analysis Methods
Parametric Survival Analysis: Weibull and Exponential Methods
Weibull Distribution
The Weibull distribution is a flexible model used in parametric survival analysis. It can handle both increasing and decreasing hazard rates, depending on its shape parameter...
Cancer

