title: The mode-of-action by network identification (MNI) algorithm: a network biology approach for molecular target identification.
abstract: This protocol details the use of the mode-of-action by network identification (MNI) algorithm to identify the gene targets of a drug treatment based on gene-expression data. Investigators might also use the MNI algorithm to identify the gene mediators of a disease or the physiological state of cells and tissues. The MNI algorithm uses a training data set of hundreds of expression profiles to construct a statistical model of gene-regulatory networks in a cell or tissue. The model describes combinatorial influences of genes on one another. The algorithm then uses the model to filter the expression profile of a particular experimental treatment and thereby distinguish the molecular targets or mediators of the treatment response from hundreds of additional genes that also exhibit expression changes. It takes approximately 1 h per run, although run time is significantly affected by the size of the genome and data set.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Heming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Timothy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004358:Drug Therapy; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012984:Software