Definition of a Family of Tissue-Protective Cytokines Using Functional Cluster Analysis: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

ABSTRACT: The discovery of the tissue-protective activities of erythropoietin (EPO) has underlined the importance of some cytokines in tissue-protection, repair, and remodeling. As such activities have been reported for other cytokines, we asked whether we could define a class of tissue-protective cytokines. We therefore explored a novel approach based on functional clustering. In this pilot study, we started by analyzing a small number of cytokines (30). We functionally classified the 30 cytokines according to their interactions by using the bioinformatics tool STRING (Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes), followed by hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of this functional clustering were different from those obtained by clustering cytokines simply according to their sequence.

SUBMITTER: Mengozzi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3955874 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature