Scientists at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) made one of the first maps of the mammalian genome, showing not only the order of the genes in the DNA of the cells, but also their interaction with each other.

The work, published in the August issue of Genome Research, will help scientists better understand which genes work together and shed light on how they "work together" with each other, helping cells to evolve or die.

The mammalian genome, including humans, consists of about 20,000 different genes. Genes contain instructions for creating proteins that determine not only physical characteristics, such as the appearance, but also all the processes taking place in the body - from the movement of blood through the vessels to stimulating the immune system to attack viruses. Often they are crucial for the development of many diseases.

Each mammalian cell contains a complete set of genes, although not all genes are active. They participate not only in single interactions, but also create wide networks, including dozens of genes. About what genes of mammals often work together and what networks they form, so far very little has been known.

For their research, UCLA scientists used radiation hybrid human genome maps developed several years ago for the Human Genome Project, as well as the same maps compiled for other mammals - dogs, cats and mice.

They found significant coincidences and common interactions of genes and networks in all four species, thus creating the first complete and comprehensive map of genetic interactions in mammalian cells.

Previous studies have documented interactions of proteins driven by genes, but not genes themselves. Gene mapping provides more direct and almost complete information on the strength of intergenic bonds. Researchers believe that they managed to take an important step towards further deepening the understanding of the role of each gene in initiating any ongoing process in the body.

"We were surprised that no one had done this before, and that it works so well," says study author Desmond Smith, professor at the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the School of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. "Modern science of the genome, while still in its infancy, has accumulated a huge amount of information that will be enough to make discoveries, such as ours, for decades. We just scratched the surface a little ".

To understand the interaction of genes, scientists have statistically checked how often one gene appears in the cell with another and which ones appear together most often.

They found that genes that often appear simultaneously in radiation hybrid cells, even if they are far from each other in the genome, can act together. A network of more than 7 million interactions covers essentially all the genes of the mammalian genome.

New discoveries go far beyond a simple understanding of where the gene is located, that is, of the order in which the genes are located in the cell's DNA.

"Modern genetic maps show the order of genes and the location where they are physically located, as a street map with the houses," - says Smith. "We went a step further and were able to establish which genes interact with each other when they leave their homes and go to work".

"By studying the network of" friends "and" colleagues "of a gene, we will be able to learn its role and purpose," says the author of the work Andy Lin, a member of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology UCLA. "Mapping gene interactions is important for both basic science and clinical research".

According to scientists, some genes show more intense interactions than others, and this information can be very useful in finding specific targets for drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Smith compares the gene network that takes part in the development of the disease, with the world of crime.

The most intensive interaction gene represents someone powerful, like Al Capone, surrounded by his gang of gangsters. If we do not have the medicinal product targeted by this main gene, there may be a remedy that will efficiently knock out a gene of the second rank by launching a flank attack that undermines the action of the main gene ". Their discoveries, researchers believe, will help scientists in this field.

"The interaction map created at UCLA is a significant step forward that will help to expand understanding of working relationships between genes," said Tara C. Matise), assistant professor of genetics at Rutgers University and director of the Laboratory of Computational Genetics, who did not participate in this work. "The more information we get about genetic interactions, the more effective scientists will be able to conduct research aimed at the practical application of scientific discoveries".

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