Research Article
Tania Gamberi, Francesca Ma
Abstract
Research has increasingly focused on cytotoxic gold and ruthenium compounds as anticancer drug candidates. From proteomic investigations, clearly emerged that a few different cellular pathways relevant for the comprehension of the pharmacological actions are specifically modulated by them. To gain a better intepretation of their cellular effects, we decided to undertake a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of the available proteomic results. Data obtained from prevously published treatments were grouped and mapped in the PPI Spider on the web portal Bioprofiling (http://www.BioProfiling.de/gene_list). A preliminary map of protein-protein interactions was built up, and some mechanistically relevant features highlighted. In total, 34 proteins resulted to be direct gold and ruthenium compounds interactors; we built a statistically significant interaction network that grouped together all the proteins differentially expressed. Moreover, we showed as intermediate protein cREL a Component of the NF-kappa-B. This study explores the affected protein pathways from an interactomic prospective stressing the importance of advanced bioinformatic analysis.