Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation, announced the launch of its TranscriptoNET KnowledgeBase for the study of human gene expression in over 300 types of human tissues and organs as well as over 300 human cancer cell lines. This open-access resource for the biomedical research community feature comprehensive information on the mRNA expression levels for almost 23,000 human genes. The original data was retrieved from the National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI GEO), which serves as a repository of experimental gene microarray results submitted by researchers from around the world. Kinexus and its academic collaborators normalized the data from over 900 different studies with more than 6000 biological specimens to permit investigations of gene expression and potential interactions that can only be undertaken with such a large dataset of over 125 million separate gene expression measurements. This normalization process was based on the identification of 60 genes that were commonly and highly expressed in all of the biological samples.

When genes are activated by transcription factors, they are transcribed into intermediate messenger-RNA copies. These mRNAs are subsequently translated with the aid of protein synthesis machinery in ribosomes to make the unique proteins encoded by these genes. Measurement of mRNA levels for specific genes reveals whether the proteins specified by these genes are actively produced in the diverse cell types found in the human body. The differential expression of genes determines the structures and biochemical activities in cells that account for their special physiological functions.

TranscriptoNET complements three other open-access websites developed by Kinexus, including the PhosphoNET KnowledgeBase, which tracks over 650,000 known and putative regulatory phosphorylation sites in human proteins; and the KINET-Antibody Microarray and KiNET-immunoblotting DataBase, which together, provide the world’s largest repository of semi-quantitative proteomics data with antibody probes. The KiNET Databases feature the results from other 10000 proteomics analyses that Kinexus has performed for over 1350 acadmic and industrial laboratories over the last 12 years. The application of this information positions Kinexus and its clients for improved disease diagnosis and personalized drug therapies to improve human health.