Dissection of complex gene expression using the combined analysis of pleiotropy and epistasis.

ABSTRACT: Global transcript expression experiments are commonly used to investigate the biological processes that underlie complex traits. These studies can exhibit complex patterns of pleiotropy when trans-acting genetic factors influence overlapping sets of multiple transcripts. Dissecting these patterns into biological modules with distinct genetic etiology can provide models of how genetic variants affect specific processes that contribute to a trait. Here we identify transcript modules associated with pleiotropic genetic factors and apply genetic interaction analysis to disentangle the regulatory architecture in a mouse intercross study of kidney function. The method, called the combined analysis of pleiotropy and epistasis (CAPE), has been previously used to model genetic networks for multiple

SUBMITTER: Philip VM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3900022 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature