Building on a successful three-year pilot project, the National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $64 million to six research institutions to create a database of human cellular responses, the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS). Discovering such cell responses will improve scientists’ understanding of cell pathways and aid in the development of new therapies for many diseases.

The funding establishes six centers, collectively called the Data and Signature Generating Centers. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), both part of NIH, administer the program on behalf of the NIH Common Fund.

The LINCS program aims to catalog and analyze cellular function and molecular activity in response to perturbing agents — such as drugs and genetic factors — that are potentially disruptive to cells. LINCS researchers then will measure the cells’ tiniest molecular and biochemical responses, and use computer analyses to uncover common patterns in these responses — called “signatures.” LINCS data will be freely available to any scientist.

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