Bioinformatics for Oncogenomic Target Identification

Activation of proto-oncogenes and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) occur during multistage carcinogenesis. Proto-oncogenes are activated by gene amplification, point mutation and chromosomal translocation, while TSGs are inactivated by promoter CpG hypermethylation, point mutation, chromosomal translocation, and deletion. Array CGH combined with mRNA microarray analysis is applied for genome-wide screening of proto-oncogenes as well as TSGs [2]. Microarray analysis for lase-captured microdissection (LCM) sample is applied for screening of novel tumor markers specifically expressed in tumor cells [1]. Because huge amounts of data concerning genome sequences, expression profile, copy-number changes of human chromosomal regions in tumors are available in the post-genomic era, we applied bioinformatics for oncogenomic target identification.