The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) has revolutionized cancer research by organizing multi-omic and pharmacological data from over 1,000 cell lines. These datasets, combined with molecular dependency maps available via DepMap, represent a goldmine for translational research.
However, there are still some limitations for the systematic comparison of mRNAs, miRNAs, proteins, and metabolites, as well as their connections to drug responses and gene signatures. Additionally, extracting and analyzing these data requires technical knowledge in bioinformatics, which limits their exploration by bench scientists.
To overcome this barrier, researchers developed ShinyTHOR, an interactive web application that provides intuitive access to multi-omic data — including transcriptomics, metabolomics, methylomics, proteomics, and miRNomics — as well as drug-related information. ShinyTHOR integrates reference databases such as CCLE, miRTarBase, circInteractome, and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC).
Dr. Alexis Germán Murillo Carrasco (ICESP/FMUSP), one of the developers, comments on the new app: “With ShinyTHOR, we aim to make life easier for researchers who want to explore the complexity of cancer omics data without writing a single line of code. The application should also be useful for reviewers or editors looking to verify expression levels of specific regions in particular tumor cell line types. I believe that democratizing access to and integrated visualization of these data can drive discoveries in cancer biology and improve the identification of therapeutic targets.”
The article was authored by Eduardo Navarrete-Bencomo, Anthony Vladimir Campos Segura, Orlando R. Sevillano, Ana Mayanga, José Luis Bulejé-Sono, César Alexander Ortiz Rojas, and Alexis Germán Murillo Carrasco.
All information about ShinyTHOR can be found in the article published in Bioinformatics Advances.
