Highly interconnected genes in disease-specific networks are enriched for disease-associated polymorphisms.

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 di

SUBMITTER: Barrenas F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3446318 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature