Understanding Disease Susceptibility through Population Genomics.
Genetic epidemiology studies have established that the natural variation of gene expression profiles is heritable and has genetic bases. A number of proximal and remote DNA variations, known as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), that are associated with the expression phenotypes have been identified, first in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines and later expanded to other cell and tissue types. Integration of the eQTL information and the network analysis of transcription modules may lead to a better understanding of gene expression regulation. As these network modules have relevance to biological or disease pathways, these findings may be useful in predicting disease susceptibility.
School of Systems Biomedical Science, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743, Korea.
Seonggyun
S
Han
Junnam
J
Lee
Sangsoo
S
Kim
cis-acting; co-expression network; disease susceptibility; expression quantitative trait loci; trans-acting