Modular gene analysis reveals distinct molecular signatures for subsets of patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease with clinical sequelae such as itching, dyspigmentation and scarring.

Objectives

We applied a previously described modular analysis approach to assess the molecular heterogeneity of patients with CLE.

Methods

Whole-blood transcriptomes of RNA sequencing data from a racially and ethnically diverse group of patients with CLE (n = 62) were used to calculate gene co-expression module scores. An unsupervised cluster analysis and k-means clustering based on these module scores were then performed. We used Fisher's exact tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests to compare characteristics between patient clusters.

Results

Six unique clusters of patients with CLE were identified from the cluster

SUBMITTER: Zhu JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8255330 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature