What is a signature

An omics signature is a high‐dimensional readout of cellular state change that provides information about the biological processes affected by the perturbation which underlie the post‐perturbation phenotype of the cell. The signature in itself also provides information, although not always directly discernable, about the molecular mechanisms by which the perturbation causes observed changes. If we consider a disease to be a perturbation of the homeostatic biological system under normal physiology, then the omics signature of a disease are the differences in gene/protein expression levels between disease and non‐diseased tissue samples.

The signatures in iLINCS consist of differential gene or protein expression levels and associated p‐values between perturbed and baseline samples for all, or any subset of measured genes/proteins. User submitted signatures can also be in the form of a list of genes/proteins, or a list of up‐ and down‐regulated genes/proteins.

Category: FAQ