An Evolutionary General Purpose WebGIS to Disclose EGFR Mutations in Lung Cancer

摘要

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a membrane spanning receptor tyrosine kinase that regulates cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Over expression and mutations in the kinase domain of EGFR are implicated in the development and progression of a variety of cancers. We present an evolutionary general purpose Geographic Information System, in which geographic information is replaced by biological data representing the main mutation regions within the kinase domain of EGFR. Our system can be used for generating hypotheses about relations between EGFR mutations and cancer; defining statistical, molecular, and pharmacological relationships; disclosing biological identification techniques, etc. Moreover this is an important example of how GIS capabilities can be used not only for geographic items, but for any kind of data, as a general purpose system.