Drug Target Discovery by Gene Expression Analysis Cell Cycle Genes

Abstract

Gene expression microarrays and gene expression databases provide new opportunities for the discovery of drug targets and for determination of a drug's mode of action. We review gene expression analysis methods and describe studies that have identified cell cycle genes using differential expression analysis and co-expression analysis. We present an example of the identification of previously-unrecognized human cell cycle genes, CDCA1 through CDCA8, that are co-expressed with known cell cycle genes including CDC2, CDC7, CDC23, cyclin, MCAK, mki67a, topoisomerase II, and others.