Proteomic-based stemness score measures oncogenic dedifferentiation and enables the identification of druggable targets.

ABSTRACT: Cancer progression and therapeutic resistance are closely linked to a stemness phenotype. Here, we introduce a protein-expression-based stemness index (PROTsi) to evaluate oncogenic dedifferentiation in relation to histopathology, molecular features, and clinical outcomes. Utilizing datasets from the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium across 11 tumor types, we validate PROTsi's effectiveness in accurately quantifying stem-like features. Through integration of PROTsi with multi-omics, including protein post-translational modifications, we identify molecular features associated with stemness and proteins that act as active nodes within transcriptional networks, driving tumor aggressiveness. Proteins highly correlated with stemness were identified as potential drug targets, both sha

SUBMITTER: Kolodziejczak-Guglas I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12230239 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature