KIN-ecting the dots

Although next-generation sequencing is identifying increasing numbers of mutations in patient cancers, the rate-limiting step for clinicians is understanding how the mutations contribute to tumor growth. Danish researchers have developed two platforms, KINspect and ReKINect, that work in tandem to predict how mutations in kinases and their substrates affect tumor cell signaling and proliferation, with the goal of helping guide treatment decisions.

The computational methods were described in two studies published last month in Cell by teams led by Rune Linding, a professor of cell signaling in the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre at the University of Copenhagen...