Exploring wound-healing genomic machinery with a network-based approach

Francesca Vitali, Simone Marini, Martina Balli, Hanne Grosemans, Maurilio Sampaolesi, Yves A. Lussier, Maria Gabriella Cusella De Angelis, Riccardo Bellazzi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The molecular mechanisms underlying tissue regeneration and wound healing are still poorly understood despite their importance. In this paper we develop a bioinformatics approach, combining biology and network theory to drive experiments for better understanding the genetic underpinnings of wound healing mechanisms and for selecting potential drug targets. We start by selecting literature-relevant genes in murine wound healing, and inferring from them a Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network. Then, we analyze the network to rank wound healing-related genes according to their topological properties. Lastly, we perform a procedure for in-silico simulation of a treatment action in a biological pathway. The findings obtained by applying the developed pipeline, including gene expression analysis, confirms how a network-based bioinformatics method is able to prioritize candidate genes for in vitro analysis, thus speeding up the understanding of molecular mechanisms and supporting the discovery of potential drug targets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number55
JournalPharmaceuticals
Volume10
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 21 2017

Keywords

  • Gene prioritization
  • Network pharmacology
  • Wound healing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Pharmaceutical Science
  • Drug Discovery

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