A Systems Biology Platform for the Assessment of Substance Abuse

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to develop a database and data analysis platform specifically designed for the study of the causes and biological consequences of drug abuse. The product will comprise: i) a comprehensive disease ontology and database of associations between genes, their protein products and predisposition to drug abuse, development of dependency and pathologies associated with chronic drug abuse; ii) a collection of publicly-available systems biology datasets (gene-expression, proteomics, metabolomics) relating to drug abuse and it's affects on multiple organ systems; iii) a set of prebuilt maps and networks relating to drug dependency, and software tools that will enable the analysis of extant and newly-generated systems biology datasets, independently and in combination, to identify metabolic and signaling networks, pathways, and mechanisms of disease development, and potential strategies and targets for therapeutic interventions; iv) computational tools for the analysis of novel compounds to predict their potential for abuse and dependency. The product will be unique in the marketplace and of great interest to academic researchers, foundations and pharmaceutical companies performing research into the causes and treatment of alcoholism and alcohol- related disease and will be marketed and sold by GeneGo as part of the MetaDiscovery suite of products. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The aim of this grant is to develop a software database and analysis platform to enable a systems-level approach to understanding, preventing and treating drug abuse. The platform will provide a comprehensive knowledge-base, data analysis tools and predictive models to support research into the causes and treatment of drug abuse.