Systems-level cancer gene identification from protein interaction network topology applied to melanogenesis-related data

Conference:  ISMB/ECCB 2009

Abstract:  Defining the relationship between protein-protein interaction (PPI) network topology and protein function and disease has been one of the major challenges in the post-genomic era. We use a sensitive graph-theoretic method for comparing local structures of node neighborhoods to demonstrate that in the human PPI network, topology around cancer genes is different from topology around non-cancer genes. From this observation, we identify novel cancer gene candidates, validating our predictions both biologically and in the literature.