Elucidation of regulatory interaction networks underlying human prostate adenocarcinoma

The incidence of prostate cancer is rising in the AsiaPacific region as well as other countries. Androgenablation therapy is clinically useful in the androgendependent phenotype; however, many patients progress to hormone refractory prostate cancer that is difficult to treat and needs newer interventions that are more effective. The objective of this study was to determine functionallyrelevant biological networks, to appreciate the potential crosstalk between signaling members, and to identify biomarker signatures in prostate cancer. We used microarray analyses to identify key genes that were upregulated or down regulated at least fivefold in human prostate cancer and constructed canonical interaction networks that are important in prostate cancer through metabolomics analyses. Our prostate cancer network architecture revealed several key biomarkers including ERK1/2, JNK, p38, MEK, PI3K, NF?B, AP1, 1433, VEGF, PDGF, Rb, WNT8A, WNT10A, CD44, ESR2, FSH and LH. Furthermore, the top ten transcription factors identified by TFBSassociation signature analysis in the regulatory elements of coregulated biomarkers were delineated, which may crosstalk with upstream or downstream genes elicited in our networkarchitecture. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the regulatory interaction networks in prostate cancer provide a universal view of crosstalk between important biomarkers, i.e., key players in the pathogenesis of this disease. This will facilitate more rapid screening of functional biomarkers in early/intermediate drug discovery.