Evaluation of Prioritization Methods of Extrinsic Apoptotic Signaling Pathway Genes for Retrieval of the New Candidates Associated with Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is an important problem in psychophysical health and well-being of society in Russia and worldwide. In the present work, the role of apoptosis in the associative gene network of MDD was studied. The methods of prioritization were analyzed and candidate genes for further research were predicted. The quality of prioritization methods and their combinations was tested, and the most effective methods were selected. Prioritization was carried out for genes of the extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway considering their role in the structure of the associative genetic network of MDD, since the external pathway of apoptosis is important for drug development. The methods of the ANDSystem, a computer system for reconstruction of gene networks on the basis of automatic data retrieval from scientific publications, were considered and used for gene prioritization. As a result of prioritization, some candidate genes were suggested for the further experimental study of their role in MDD pathogenesis, including CAV1, FYN, JAK2, PTEN, RAF1, RELA and SRC.