[Mining gene expression microarray data of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by literature profiling].
OBJECTIVE
To study abnormal signal pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).


METHODS
NPC gene expression microarray data was mined by analysis of literature profiles generated by extracting the frequencies of certain terms from the abstracts stored in the Medline literature database. The terms were then filtered on the basis of both repetitive occurrence and co-occurrence among multiple gene entries. Finally, clustering analysis was performed on the retained frequency values, shaping a coherent picture of the functional relationship among large and heterogeneous lists of genes.


RESULTS
Sixteen function groups were found among 112 abnormally expressed genes, including 4 groups indicative of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, 6 groups indicative of normal nasopharyngeal tissues that acquired essential capabilities to develop into tumor, 2 groups involved in energy metabolism, 1 group suggesting abnormal phosphorylation of proteins, 2 groups related to other diseases, and 1 group associated with muscle activities. The pathways of p53 and Rb, which were frequently abnormal during tumor progression, were not found in these groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Initiation and progression of NPC may be caused by special signal transduction pathways.
Huang
Zhong-xi
ZX
Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. zxhuang@fimmu.com
Yao
Kai-tai
KT
D006801:Humans; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D015398:Signal Transduction