Comment in:
A gene expression database for the molecular pharmacology of cancer.
Scherf U, Ross DT, Waltham M, Smith LH, Lee JK, Tanabe L, Kohn KW, Reinhold WC, Myers TG, Andrews DT, Scudiero DA, Eisen MB, Sausville EA, Pommier Y, Botstein D, Brown PO, Weinstein JN.
Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Division of Basic Sciences, Building 37/5D-02, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
We used cDNA microarrays to assess gene expression profiles in 60 human cancer cell lines used in a drug discovery screen by the National Cancer Institute. Using these data, we linked bioinformatics and chemoinformatics by correlating gene expression and drug activity patterns in the NCI60 lines. Clustering the cell lines on the basis of gene expression yielded relationships very different from those obtained by clustering the cell lines on the basis of their response to drugs. Gene-drug relationships for the clinical agents 5-fluorouracil and L-asparaginase exemplify how variations in the transcript levels of particular genes relate to mechanisms of drug sensitivity and resistance. This is the first study to integrate large databases on gene expression and molecular pharmacology.
Publication Types:
PMID: 10700175 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]