title: Correlation analysis between single-nucleotide polymorphism and expression arrays in gliomas identifies potentially relevant target genes.
abstract: Primary brain tumors are a major cause of cancer mortality in the United States. Therapy for gliomas, the most common type of primary brain tumors, remains suboptimal. The development of improved therapeutics will require greater knowledge of the biology of gliomas at both the genomic and transcriptional levels. We have previously reported whole genome profiling of chromosome copy number alterations (CNA) in gliomas, and now present our findings on how those changes may affect transcription of genes that may be involved in tumor induction and progression. By calculating correlation values of mRNA expression versus DNA copy number average in a moving window around a given RNA probe set, biologically relevant information can be gained that is obscured by the analysis of a single data type. Correlation coefficients ranged from -0.6 to 0.7, highly significant when compared with previous studies. Most correlated genes are located on chromosomes 1, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 22, chromosomes known to have genomic alterations in gliomas. Additionally, we were able to identify CNAs whose gene expression correlation suggests possible epigenetic regulation. This analysis revealed a number of interesting candidates such as CXCL12, PTER, and LRRN6C, among others. The results have been verified using real-time PCR and methylation sequencing assays. These data will further help differentiate genes involved in the induction and/or maintenance of the tumorigenic process from those that are mere passenger mutations, thereby enriching for a population of potentially new therapeutic molecular targets.
authors.affiliation: Neuro-Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kotliarov
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kotliarova
authors.forename: Nurdina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charong
authors.forename: Aiguo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walling
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aquilanti
authors.forename: Susie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Mary Ellen
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Steed
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Center
authors.forename: Jean C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Zenklusen
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Fine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D002648:Child; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D009154:Mutation; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins