# Gene co-expression structure

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/gene-co-expression/  
OnCo record `gene-co-expression` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Genes that rise and fall together across samples form co-expression modules; this correlation structure is what expression models mostly learn.

## Summary

A gene co-expression network is a graph in which genes are nodes and an edge joins two genes whose expression is significantly correlated across samples (Wikipedia). Modules in such networks correspond to cell types, proliferation, immune infiltration and tissue of origin, so a masked-gene model that reconstructs hidden genes from visible ones is learning this structure. It also explains why a few hundred well chosen genes carry most of the information in twenty thousand.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: gene co-expression; co-expression structure; co-expression network; coexpression network; co-expression module; gene module
- Tags: cansim-terms

## Notes

- Listed in the CanSim terms map 1.0.0 (docs/onco/terms.json, generated 2026-09-24), CC BY 4.0, attribution: CanSim project, an open, public-data-first cancer foundation-model programme; CanSim page path /terms/gene-co-expression-structure.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_co-expression_network
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_co-expression_network

## Connected records

- terms: [Cancer AI vocabulary (CanSim terms map)](https://onco.cc/terms/cancer-ai-vocabulary/), [Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA and ssGSEA)](https://onco.cc/terms/gsea/), [Masked autoencoders and masked gene modelling](https://onco.cc/terms/masked-modelling/), [Tissue-of-origin signal in tumour data](https://onco.cc/terms/organ-of-origin-signal/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/gene-co-expression.json