Steps towards more comprehensive cancer dependency maps
A new study published today in Nature Communications and led by Francesco Iorio (Group Leader at the Research Centre for Computational Biology of Human Technopole) describes an unprecedented large integrative database of cancer dependencies.
Cancer dependencies are genes that are selectively essential to the survival of cancer cells, and whose study should be prioritised for the development of new oncology therapeutic targets.
A joint collaborative endeavour aiming to assemble a map of all cancer dependencies has been recently initiated jointly by the Wellcome Sanger Institute of Cambridge (UK) and the Broad Institute of Harvar and MIT (Boston). In January 2021, a call to action addressed to other research institutes and funding entities was published in Nature. Human Technopole has been the first Italian institute to answer this call, with a focus on brain cancers and computational methods.
A paper published within the Cancer Dependency Map collaboration in 2019 showed how cancer dependencies datasets generated independently by the Broad and Sanger institutes (through the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology) yield consistent and reproducible results, despite significant differences in the underlying experimental pipelines. The study published today takes an important step further showing how newer and larger releases of the same datasets can be integrated to create more comprehensive maps of cancer dependencies, thus allowing a better representation of the huge variety of human cancers and providing increased numerical power for a number of novel analyses.
The approach presented in this latest study also identifies standards and methods needed to properly integrate and merge CRISPR-Cas9 datasets that are being increasingly generated independently by different institutes. This will allow to assemble growingly comprehensive cancer dependency maps, which will progressively account for currently under-represented patient populations, ethnic minorities and rare diseases, in the hope of identifying new promising targeted therapies for every cancer patient.
Share:
You could also like:
-
Colorectal Cancer: ML Enhances Cetuximab Response Predictions
An international collaborative study led by Human Technopole, Candiolo Cancer Institute IRCCS in Turin, the University of Turin, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge (UK) has identified new factors associated with therapeutic response in colorectal cancer. The research has led to the development of a machine-learning model capable of accurately predicting the effects of cetuximab, a drug in clinical use, on different colorectal tumour subtypes. Funded by the AIRC Foundation, the study paves the way to identifying molecular features that could serve as biomarkers for predicting treatment response in patients with this type of cancer.
-
Human Technopole Foundation’s Supplier List online
The Human Technopole Foundation’s Supplier Register is now online.
-
HT Director Zerial Awarded Mercurio Prize for Excellence in Research
The Human Technopole Director, Marino Zerial, has been awarded the 2024 Mercurio Prize in the “Research and Development” category, in recognition of the excellence of his research in the field of cell biology. Zerial, renowned for his studies on the mechanisms of endocytosis and cellular transport, has made significant contributions to the understanding of cellular dynamics, with potential therapeutic applications for diseases such as liver conditions.
-
A new model system for cortical development in vitro
Researchers from Human Technopole, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and Bicocca University established a method for developing brain assembloids that allows reproducing salient aspects of the antero-posterior polarity of the human cerebral cortex in vitro and opens new possibilities for disease modelling. The study is published in Nature Methods.
-
The National Facility for Genomics with Clelia Peano
Meet Clelia Peano, Head of the National Facility for Genomics. The Facility offers cutting-edge services to develop robust experimental and analytical workflows to explore different genomic research areas, including DNA and RNA analysis, chromatin structure, and epigenetic mechanisms regulating transcription. The goal is to enhance genomic research in all its aspects, benefiting the entire Italian scientific community.