DRviaSPCN

DRviaSPCN analyzes subpathway (SP) crosstalk networks to prioritize candidate drugs for cancer drug repurposing by integrating SP centrality and enrichment scores of drug- and disease-induced dysfunctional subpathways.

Key Features:

• R implementation: Implemented as an R package for computational analysis.
• Subpathway Crosstalk Network Construction: Constructs subpathway (SP) networks that map interactions between cellular pathways relevant to cancer biology.
• Centrality Score Calculation: Computes centrality scores for SPs to quantify their influence within the crosstalk network.
• Enrichment Score Analysis: Assesses enrichment scores of drug- and disease-induced dysfunctional SPs and integrates these with centrality scores to prioritize drugs.
• Weighted Evaluation of Drug–Disease Associations: Evaluates reverse drug–disease associations at a weighted subpathway level to identify repurposing candidates.
• Identification and Visualization: Identifies potential candidate drugs and provides visualization of SP-level associations for interpretation.

Scientific Applications:

• Cancer drug repurposing: Prioritizes existing drugs for new cancer indications by linking drug-induced effects to dysfunctional subpathways.
• Pathway crosstalk analysis: Characterizes pathway interactions that contribute to tumor survival and drug resistance by focusing on SP-level crosstalk.

Methodology:

Construction of a subpathway (SP) network; calculation of SP centrality scores; assessment of enrichment scores for drug- and disease-induced dysfunctional SPs and integration with centrality scores to prioritize drugs; weighted evaluation of drug–disease associations at the subpathway level; and identification and visualization of candidate drugs.