(DOI: 10.3171/2009.11.FOCUS.JAN10.INTRO) Neurosurg Focus 28 (1):E1, 2010

Introduction: neurogenomics and neuroproteomics

Mi t c h e l S. Be r g e r , M.D.,1 Wi l l i a m T. Co u l dw e l l , M.D., Ph.D., 2 Ja m e s T. Ru t k a , M.D., Ph.D., 3 a n d Na t h a n R. Se l d e n , M.D., Ph.D.4 1Department of , University of California, San Francisco, California; 2Department of Neurosurgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and 4Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon

o r this issue of Neurosurgical Focus, we are tions among vast genetic changes as a strategy to tar- pleased to present a spectrum of interesting articles get tumor cell vulnerabilities with novel therapies. The covering a wide range of contemporary genomic application of siRNA technology to induce therapeutic Fand proteomic topics specifically related to neurosurgical functional changes in expression in diseases. The authors review a broad range of contempo- multiforme cells is described in the article by Thaker et rary population genetic and molecular techniques avail- al. In the remaining articles the authors discuss genetic able for the study of neurological disease. The issue be- and proteomic changes associated with specific diseases, gins with articles on broadly applied population genetic including head trauma (Dardiotis et al.), Parkinson dis- tools used to identify the relative risk of neurosurgical ease (Hadjigeorgiou et al.), and Type diseases among the kindred of affected individuals. One 1 (Gottfried et al.). Dhandapani et al. discuss their novel such example is the Utah population data bank described proteomic studies in patients with subarachnoid hemor- by Niazi et al. Subsequent articles describe game-chang- rhage, which provide proof of principle and promise for ing contemporary molecular techniques used to provide future development of diagnostic and therapeutic innova- screening for genetic alterations associated with a specif- tions in this emerging and fascinating area of research. ic disease or . Examples are the -wide Finally, Vannemreddy and colleagues provide data sup- association studies described by Cowperthwaite et al. porting a role for eNOS in the clinical presentation of and the next-generation screening techniques for genetic intraventricular hemorrhage. Collectively, these papers alteration applied to medulloblastomas by Taylor et al. A serve as a solid primer in and proteomics for review of the role of miRNAs in tumor biology is the practicing neurosurgeon and convey some of the most provided by Kalani et al. Chen and colleagues describe exciting recent molecular science developments relevant the identification of distinct functional genomic -altera to neurosurgical disease.

Neurosurg Focus / Volume 28 / January 2010 1

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