Project description:Heritable genetic variants modify cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical phenotypes, e.g., lung disease, age-of-onset of persistent Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and meconium ileus (MI). Previous genome wide association studies (GWAS) have begun to inform the genetic architecture of CF phenotypes. Analyses of gene expression will complement GWAS, as demonstrated by analyses of gene expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) to identify disease-related pathophysiological processes for non-CF complex traits. In this study, global gene expression was measured in RNA from LCLs from 754 CF patients and analyzed for association with lung disease severity, age-of-onset of persistent P. aeruginosa pulmonary infection, and MI at birth. Each phenotype displayed distinct expression associations. Most pathways significantly associated with lung disease were related to membranes, vesicle traffic, and Golgi/endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Pathways containing HLA genes (Class I and II) were significantly associated with both lung and P. aeruginosa phenotypes, but they displayed qualitative differences between phenotypes. MI associated with pathways involving oxidative phosphorylation. The results support the concept that gene expression associated with heritable variation acts to modify phenotypes in CF. 754 samples were analyzed; 2 control samples were plated by Expression Analysis per plate and 1 pooled sample from the patient set was added to one well on each plate.
Project description:Heritable genetic variants modify cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical phenotypes, e.g., lung disease, age-of-onset of persistent Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and meconium ileus (MI). Previous genome wide association studies (GWAS) have begun to inform the genetic architecture of CF phenotypes. Analyses of gene expression will complement GWAS, as demonstrated by analyses of gene expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) to identify disease-related pathophysiological processes for non-CF complex traits. In this study, global gene expression was measured in RNA from LCLs from 754 CF patients and analyzed for association with lung disease severity, age-of-onset of persistent P. aeruginosa pulmonary infection, and MI at birth. Each phenotype displayed distinct expression associations. Most pathways significantly associated with lung disease were related to membranes, vesicle traffic, and Golgi/endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Pathways containing HLA genes (Class I and II) were significantly associated with both lung and P. aeruginosa phenotypes, but they displayed qualitative differences between phenotypes. MI associated with pathways involving oxidative phosphorylation. The results support the concept that gene expression associated with heritable variation acts to modify phenotypes in CF.
Project description:Despite remarkable progress made in human genome-wide association studies, there remains a substantial gap between statistical evidence for genetic association and functional comprehension of the underlying mechanisms. To bridge the gap, we perform integrative genomic analysis of blood pressure and related phenotypes in the spontaneously hypertensive rat, an animal model of essential hypertension, searching causal genes and causal pathways. We identify 28 potential target genes, including rat homologs of human transcriptome-wide association study loci, for the tested traits and provide experimental evidence supporting the presence of key disease pathways and core disease-related gene loci in the genetic architecture of hypertension.
Project description:We use targeted bisulfite PCR and next-generation 454 sequencing of multiple amplicons to analyze the association of cis-regulated allele-specific methylation (ASM) with multiple complex disease-associated variants in a population of 82 individuals. We detect ASM at four variants implicated in complex phenotypes such as ulcerative colitis and AIDS progression disease (rs10491434), Celiac disease (rs2762051), Crohn’s disease, IgA nephropathy and early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (rs713875) and height (rs6569648). 82 samples analysed
Project description:Several proteins have been linked to neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), but their molecular function is not completely understood. Here, we used quantitative interaction proteomics to identify binding partners of Amyloid beta precursor protein (APP) and Presenilin-1 (PSEN1) for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntingtin (HTT) for Huntington’s disease, Parkin-2 (PARK-2) for Parkinson’s disease and Ataxin-1 (ATXN-1) for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. Our network reveals common signatures of protein degradation and misfolding and recapitulates known biology. Toxicity modifier screens and comparison to genome-wide association studies show that interaction partners are significantly linked to disease phenotypes in vivo. Direct comparison of wild-type proteins and disease-associated variants identified binders involved in pathogenesis, highlighting the value of differential interactome mapping. Finally, we show that the mitochondrial protein LRPPRC interacts preferentially with an early onset AD variant of APP. This interaction appears to induce mitochondrial dysfunction, which is an early phenotype of AD.
Project description:Epigenome‑wide association study on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap reveals aberrant DNA methylations related to clinical phenotypes