Cancer Genomics: Chapter 4. The Significance of Transcriptome Sequencing in Personalized Cancer Medicine

Cancer Genomics: Chapter 4. The Significance of Transcriptome Sequencing in Personalized Cancer Medicine
ISBN-10
0128061014
ISBN-13
9780128061015
Series
Cancer Genomics
Category
Medical
Pages
510
Language
English
Published
2013-11-21
Publisher
Elsevier Inc. Chapters
Authors
Javed Khan, Shile Zhang, Jun S. Wei

Description

The complexity of the transcriptome has been appreciated in recent years in light of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. While less than 3% of the genome is annotated with protein-coding genes, 62% of the genome is long RNA molecules (>200 nucleotides). With an increasing sequencing throughput and a decreasing cost, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is becoming a frequently used technology in transcriptome research. This chapter summarizes the advantages of RNA-seq compared to hybridization-based microarrays, the RNA-seq experiment workflow and reviews current applications of RNA-seq in the field of cancer research. With advantages in expression analysis of non-coding genes, fusion genes, investigation of expressed allelic imbalance, pseudogenes, viral integrated genes, and post-transcriptional regulation analysis including splicing, polyadenylation as well as RNA editing, RNA-seq technology has a tremendous potential to elucidate the complexity of the transcriptome and its working mechanisms in the initiation and development of cancer. Along with expression and pathway analysis, RNA-seq data can clarify the functional consequences of any potential genomic (DNA) variances and thus help to distinguish “driver” from “passenger” genomic events. In summary, RNA-seq allows a genome-wide interrogation of complex transcriptomes and will help elucidate important biological mechanisms linked to cancer phenotypes. In addition, the non-protein-coding transcriptome has the potential to provide novel biomarkers for early detection, diagnostics, prognostics and targets for therapy.

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