title: Prediction of the gene expression in normal lung tissue by the gene expression in blood.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Comparative analysis of gene expression in human tissues is important for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying tissue-specific control of gene expression. It can also open an avenue for using gene expression in blood (which is the most easily accessible human tissue) to predict gene expression in other (less accessible) tissues, which would facilitate the development of novel gene expression based models for assessing disease risk and progression. Until recently, direct comparative analysis across different tissues was not possible due to the scarcity of paired tissue samples from the same individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study we used paired whole blood/lung gene expression data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project. We built a generalized linear regression model for each gene using gene expression in lung as the outcome and gene expression in blood, age and gender as predictors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For ~18 % of the genes, gene expression in blood was a significant predictor of gene expression in lung. We found that the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) influencing expression of a given gene in either blood or lung, also known as the number of quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), was positively associated with efficacy of blood-based prediction of that gene's expression in lung. This association was strongest for shared eQTLs: those influencing gene expression in both blood and lung.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, for a considerable number of human genes, their expression levels in lung can be predicted using observable gene expression in blood. An abundance of shared eQTLs may explain the strong blood/lung correlations in the gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, 78 College St., Hanover, NH, 03755, USA. Justin.W.Halloran.16@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Justin W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Halloran
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. Dakai.Zhu@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Dakai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. David.C.Qian.GR@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. Jinyoung.Byun@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Jinyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. Olga.Y.Gorlova@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Olga Y
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Gorlova
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. Christopher.I.Amos@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Amos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Data Science, The Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, HB7937, One Medical Center Dr., Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. ivan.p.gorlov@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Ivan P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Gorlov
mesh_terms: D001769:Blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci