Constructing Gene Networks from Microarray Data for Age-Dependent Epiliptogenesis
Project Award Date: 07-01-2004
Description
Epilepsy, characterized by the repetitive occurrence of seizures, currently afflicts approximately 4 percent of Americans of all backgrounds and ages. There are no current therapies available which can completely arrest the epileptic process in most individuals. In order to develop effective prevention and therapeutic intervention approaches, the molecular mechanisms of epilepsy must be identified. Bioinformatics approaches will unravel relationships among the specific genes and generate hypotheses on the molecular mechanisms of the epileptogenic process.
This project will establish collaborative research programs in neuroscience and bioinformatics, programs that integrate experimental biology with computation and modeling. As the research is interdisciplinary in nature, a collaborative team including scientists from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Dr. Xue-wen Chen) and the Center for Neurobiology and Immunology Research at HBC (Drs. Eli Michaelis and Xinkun Wang) has been formed. Dr. Michaelis and Dr. Wang will conduct neurobiological experiments and generate epileptogenic microarray data, while Dr. Chen will develop new computational models to analyze the generated microarray data, and construct gene networks from them. Researchers will build collaborations between the two disciplines, neuroscience and bioinformatics. The problem-solving skills of computer scientists are expected to complement and enhance the discovery orientation of scientists in the biosciences field. This interdisciplinary collaboration will increase the likelihood of finding potential gene targets for clinical epilepsy prevention and intervention.
Investigators
Faculty Investigator(s): Xue-wen Chen (PI)
Project Sponsors
Primary Sponsor(s): Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)-NIH
