Discovery of a Robust Gene Regulatory Network with a Complex Transcription Factor Network on Organ Cancer Cell-line RNA Sequence Data

Abstract

Gene expression analysis for understanding cancer cell development is a basic, but an important step, to further our knowledge in cancer research. We may also be interested in understanding gene interactions that may lead to cancer development. One of the most important interactions is a regulatory interaction that involves transcription factor genes. In this research, we are attempting to construct a new regulatory network that imitates the transcription and translation processes of mRNA. We construct this network from four different cancer types: bile-duct cancer (BDC), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), colorectal cancer (CRC), and hepatocyte carcinoma (HCC). We also integrate differential expression data to obtain the interactions among differentially expressed genes. We then try to find intersecting sub-networks that exist across all cancer types. We believe that the transcription factor genes found in intersection sub-networks may reveal an important mechanism that affects cancer cell growth. In this research, we found that genes, such as those in the TEAD4, IRX5, HMGA1, and E2F gene family and the SOX gene family, are found in the enrichment analysis of the intersection sub-network obtained from multiple cancer data-sets. These genes point us toward dysregulation of the cell cycle, cell division, and cell proliferation mechanisms in cancer cells. These genes may become new cancer drug targets for cancer treatment.