Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026
09:58
RhoC GTPase Activation Assay
Published on: August 22, 2010
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Pan-cancer analyses identify oncogenic drivers, expression signatures, and therapeutic vulnerabilities in RHO GTPase
Rubén Fernández1,2,3, L Francisco Lorenzo-Martín1,2,3, Víctor Quesada3,4
1Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Program, Centro de Investigación del Cáncer, CSIC and Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
Frontiers in Bioinformatics
|January 2, 2026
Summary
This study maps RHO GTPase pathway alterations across 33 cancer types, revealing new mutations and expression changes. It identifies RHO pathway vulnerabilities and potential drivers for cancer research.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- RHO GTPases regulate critical cancer processes like migration and survival.
- A comprehensive understanding of RHO signaling in diverse tumors is currently limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a pan-cancer analysis of RHO GTPase pathway alterations.
- To identify novel oncogenic drivers, expression signatures, and therapeutic vulnerabilities.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed 484 RHO pathway genes across >10,000 tumor samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).
- Integrated data from genome-wide functional dependency screens in >1,000 cancer cell lines.
- Utilized transcriptomic profiling, co-expression, and gene set enrichment analyses.
Main Results:
- Discovered positively selected mutations in known and novel RHO pathway genes.
- Observed widespread, tumor-specific differential gene expression patterns, some linked to copy number changes.
- Identified coordinated transcriptional programs connecting RHO pathway genes to cancer hallmarks and context-specific dependencies.
Conclusions:
- Provides a comprehensive map of RHO GTPase pathway alterations in cancer.
- Highlights new oncogenic drivers and expression signatures.
- Uncovers potential therapeutic vulnerabilities for future research.
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