Interactomics and cancer

Abstract

Cancer is a complex disease with a myriad of genes and molecular processes involved. To unravel its underlying mechanisms, the main approach to date has been the study of individual genes and their association with carcinogenesis. As a recently emerging new paradigm, systems biology has complemented this time-honoured concept by promoting a holistic view of cancer as a network-associated disease. This new strategy is reflected par excellence by the construction of genome-and proteome-wide interaction networks and their utilization. We give here an overview of the current status of the human interactome and report first successes in its application in cancer research. In particular, interactomics-based analyses have been successfully undertaken for the characterization and de novo prediction of cancer-associated genes and processes. Although considerable challenges are still to overcome, interactomics promises to become a cornerstone in the systems biology of cancer. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.