vulcan

Virtual Inference of Protein Activity by Enriched Regulon Analysis (VIPER) is a new algorithm that has been introduced to address the challenge of accurately inferring protein activity from gene expression data. The purpose is to identify multiple dysregulated oncoproteins that contribute to tumorigenesis in a given patient, which is crucial for developing personalized treatment plans.

VIPER overcomes the limitations of direct measurement of protein activity and partial predictability of genetic alterations in predicting aberrant protein activity. The algorithm evaluates regulatory protein alterations across all samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and accurately infers aberrant protein activity induced by established mutations. However, the innovation of VIPER lies in its ability to identify a fraction of tumors with aberrant activity of druggable oncoproteins despite a lack of mutations and vice versa.

In vitro, assays have confirmed that VIPER-inferred protein activity outperforms mutational analysis in predicting sensitivity to targeted inhibitors. Therefore, VIPER provides a more accurate and comprehensive approach to assess protein activity from gene expression data, which is critical for developing personalized treatment plans for cancer patients.