The gene family encoding protein kinases is the most commonly mutated in human cancer. Moreover, mutated and activated protein kinases have proved to be tractable targets for the development of new anticancer therapies. We have examined the full coding sequence of the protein kinase genes (518 protein kinases, more than 1.3Mb of DNA per sample) in primary cancers and cancer cell lines. The genes with mutations and the details of the mutations are available through COSMIC. In addition a list of genes without mutations is available.

To complement the sequencing of the protein kinase genes we have analysed the tumours and cell lines using Affymetrix SNP microarrays. This data provides a genotype for each sample and reveals regions where there is loss of heterozygosity. Furthermore we have analysed the array data for changes in genome copy number by comparing the tumour data with data from a normal sample (CGH).

The results from this work have been published and incorporate a discussion of the data. There are various supplementary data files that are available to support the data. These include details of the samples, the genes that have been screened and the mutations. The oligonucleotide PCR/sequencing primer sequences are also available.

The data from the protein kinase mutation screen is available in COSMIC.

The data is also available for download.