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- Barrenäs, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Highly interconnected genes in disease-specific networks are enriched for disease-associated polymorphisms
- 2012
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Ingår i: Genome Biology. - : BioMed Central. - 1465-6906 .- 1474-760X .- 1465-6914. ; 13:6, s. R46-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Complex diseases are associated with altered interactions between thousands of genes. We developed a novel method to identify and prioritize disease genes, which was generally applicable to complex diseases.RESULTS: We identified modules of highly interconnected genes in disease-specific networks derived from integrating gene-expression and protein interaction data. We examined if those modules were enriched for disease-associated SNPs, and could be used to find novel genes for functional studies. First, we analyzed publicly available gene expression microarray and genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from 13, highly diverse, complex diseases. In each disease, highly interconnected genes formed modules, which were significantly enriched for genes harboring disease-associated SNPs. To test if such modules could be used to find novel genes for functional studies, we repeated the analyses using our own gene expression microarray and GWAS data from seasonal allergic rhinitis. We identified a novel gene, FGF2, whose relevance was supported by functional studies using combined small interfering RNA-mediated knock-down and gene expression microarrays. The modules in the 13 complex diseases analyzed here tended to overlap and were enriched for pathways related to oncological, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. This suggested that this union of the modules would be associated with a general increase in susceptibility for complex diseases. Indeed, we found that this union was enriched with GWAS genes for 145 other complex diseases.CONCLUSIONS: Modules of highly interconnected complex disease genes were enriched for disease-associated SNPs, and could be used to find novel genes for functional studies.
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| 2. |
- Bruhn, Sören, et al.
(författare)
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Increased expression of IRF4 and ETS1 in CD4+ cells from patients with intermittent allergic rhinitis
- 2012
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Ingår i: Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : John Wiley and Sons. - 0105-4538 .- 1398-9995. ; 67:1, s. 33-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The transcription factor (TF) IRF4 is involved in the regulation of Th1, Th2, Th9, and Th17 cells, and animal studies have indicated an important role in allergy. However, IRF4 and its target genes have not been examined in human allergy. Methods: IRF4 and its target genes were examined in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients with IAR, using combined gene expression microarrays and chromatin immunoprecipitation chips (ChIP-chips), computational target prediction, and RNAi knockdowns. Results: IRF4 increased in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients with IAR, and functional studies supported its role in Th2 cell activation. IRF4 ChIP-chip showed that IRF4 regulated a large number of genes relevant to Th cell differentiation. However, neither Th1 nor Th2 cytokines were the direct targets of IRF4. To examine whether IRF4 induced Th2 cytokines via one or more downstream TFs, we combined gene expression microarrays, ChIP-chips, and computational target prediction and found a putative intermediary TF, namely ETS1 in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from allergic patients. ETS1 increased significantly in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients compared to controls. Gene expression microarrays before and after ETS1 RNAi knockdown showed that ETS1 induced Th2 cytokines as well as disease-related pathways. Conclusions: Increased expression of IRF4 in allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from patients with intermittent allergic rhinitis leads to activation of a complex transcriptional program, including Th2 cytokines.
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