They develop a tool that predicts the origin of cancer

An international study led by the researcher Pedro Martinezfrom the Andalusian Center for Developmental Biology (CABD), a joint center of the Pablo de Olavide University (UPO), the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Regional Government of Andalusia, has developed a tool that allows predicting the sites in the genome where compounds are generated, called 3R, associated with the origin of cancer.

According to a press release from the UPO, the results of the study, recently published in the journal NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics, have allowed predictions to be made specificities of the genome in mammals through sequence information and sequencing signals, contributing to the advancement of biological understanding of the genome.

The team of scientists, composed of Thomas Vanhaeren and Federico Divina of the UPO, Ludovica Cataneo from the University of Bologna and Pedro Martinez of the CABD, has carried out a bioinformatics approach to study this dynamics of the sites in the genome where 3R loops originate, considering the differences between cell types.

Along these lines, within cells, genetic information is found in various forms such as DNA, which is capable of copying itself in the form of RNA in a process known as transcription. If DNA and RNA hybrids accumulate during the transcription process, a significant source of genomic instability associated with the origin of cancer is generated.

For his part, one of the study’s researchers, Pedro Martinezhighlighted that the new tool allows “generating specific virtual maps of cell types and tissues” by using “massive sequencing data.” “Until now, tools to predict 3R structures, associated with the origin of cancer, were based solely on the DNA sequence, which is essentially the same throughout the organism. “This limitation prevented the prediction of hybrid formation in specific cell types.”he has indicated.

As indicated by the UPO, the study has revealed high precision of this tool in predictions. The “high precision of the predictor” makes it possible to anticipate the formation sites of DNA-RNA hybrids without the need to carry out the corresponding genomic localization experiments, which can facilitate the study of the molecular bases of these structures.

Furthermore, this study has generated genomic predictions in 51 systems of mammals from ENCODE, which the scientific community can “easily” access, helping other research to advance their understanding of the biology of these 3R sites associated with the origin of cancer. “The high precision of our predictor makes it possible to anticipate the formation sites of DNA and RNA hybrids without the need to carry out the corresponding genomic localization experiments, which can facilitate the study of the molecular bases of these structures,” concludes Pedro Martínez.