Data Mining via Internet Key to Identifying Human Genes

ARLINGTON, Va. - An article published in the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) online journal, AAPS PharmSci, www.pharmsci.org, describes how novel human genes can be found on the Internet, and what type of information can be gleaned from public data before the first laboratory experiment is done.

The paper contains interactive figures that illustrate how gene sequences are found and spliced together - a benefit of an online-only journal.

The authors use the intestinal peptide transporter, proteins embedded in cell membranes that translocate substances such as drugs across the membrane, as an example of how gene sequence data can be found on the Internet. The authors explain that antibiotics have proven highly effective in treating infectious diseases. Whereas some antibiotics need to be injected, many can be taken orally. To be absorbed into the body, the main oral antibiotics with peptide-like structure need to be absorbed from the intestines through transporter proteins. The intestinal peptide transporter is encoded by a known gene, termed hPepT1, but it is currently unknown whether there are more human genes with similar functions, assisting in drug absorption and distribution to infected sites in the body. With the sequencing of the human genome nearing completion, the authors explain that most if not all related probable peptide transporter genes can now be found from sequence data publicly available on the Internet. Such data mining is the key to recent advances publicized by genomics companies.

The paper, entitled "Human Proton/Oligopeptide Transporter (POT) Genes: Identification of Putative Human Genes Using Bioinformatics," appears in AAPS PharmSci, Volume 2, Issue 2. The paper's authors include Christopher W. Botka, Thomas W. Wittig, Richard C. Graul, Carsten Uhd Nielsen, Kazutaka Higaki, Gordon L. Amidon, and Wolfgang Sadée.

The full text of the article can be viewed at www.pharmsci.org/transportergenes. AAPS PharmSci is an exclusively online journal of AAPS. AAPS PharmSci offers a forum for the rapid exchange and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the pharmaceutical sciences. AAPS is a professional, scientific society of more than 10,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS aims to advance science through the open exchange of scientific knowledge, serve as an information resource, and contribute to human health through pharmaceutical research and development. For more information about AAPS, visit AAPS Online at www.aaps.org.

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