Project description:The Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) Data Access Committee was established in June 2007 to provide prompt and fair access to data from six genome-wide association studies through the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP). Of 945 project requests received through 2011, 749 (79%) have been approved; median receipt-to-approval time decreased from 14 days in 2007 to 8 days in 2011. Over half (54%) of the proposed research uses were for GAIN-specific phenotypes; other uses were for method development (26%) and adding controls to other studies (17%). Eight data-management incidents, defined as compromises of any of the data-use conditions, occurred among nine approved users; most were procedural violations, and none violated participant confidentiality. Over 5 years of experience with GAIN data access has demonstrated substantial use of GAIN data by investigators from academic, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions with relatively few and contained policy violations. The availability of GAIN data has allowed for advances in both the understanding of the genetic underpinnings of mental-health disorders, diabetes, and psoriasis and the development and refinement of statistical methods for identifying genetic and environmental factors related to complex common diseases.
Project description:Objective: Plasma cells (PCs) are terminally differentiated B-lymphocytes that produce antibodies. The lamina propria of the small intestine is particularly rich in PCs. In coeliac disease (CeD) there is infiltration and increased density of PCs in the small intestinal lesion. Many of these PCs produce disease-specific autoantibodies targeting the enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2). The plasmacytosis and high numbers of disease-antigen reactive PCs in CeD motivated us to study the transcriptional programme of PCs from coeliac gut lesions.
Design: We performed RNASeq analysis of IgA+ PCs of untreated CeD patients being specific or non-specific for TG2 and from healthy controls.