Metabolic and protein interaction sub-networks controlling the proliferation rate of cancer cells and their impact on patient survival

Abstract

Cancer cells can have a broad scope of proliferation rates. Here we aim to identify the molecular mechanisms that allow some cancer cell lines to grow up to 4 times faster than other cell lines. The correlation of gene expression profiles with the growth rate in 60 different cell lines has been analyzed using several genome-scale biological networks and new algorithms. New possible regulatory feedback loops have been suggested and the known roles of several cell cycle related transcription factors have been confirmed. Over 100 growth-correlated metabolic sub-networks have been identified, suggesting a key role of simultaneous lipid synthesis and degradation in the energy supply of the cancer cells growth. Many metabolic sub-networks involved in cell line proliferation appeared also to correlate negatively with the survival expectancy of colon cancer patients.