Gene Logic Collaboration Reveals Genomic Predictors of Parkinson's Disease
Results Predict Likelihood and Age of Disease Onset, May Lead to Risk-Assessment Tests
Gene Logic Inc. announced that a collaborative study between its genomics Division and Mayo Clinic has found biomarkers that predict susceptibility to Parkinson's disease and age of disease onset. The study was novel in its detailed and comprehensive analysis of genes and their polymorphic variants across a specific biologic pathway. This work may also provide a model for the study of other complex diseases such as Alzheimer's.
The collaborators used sophisticated bioinformatic analysis methods to compare gene sequence variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genomes of Parkinson's disease patients to those of their disease-free siblings. The collaborators targeted variants of genes related to the axon guidance pathway, a neural development pathway that plays an important role in the wiring of the brain during fetal development.
Gene Logic provided gene expression data analysis and data interpretation, comparing the whole-genome study data to the company's Parkinson's disease gene expression knowledgebase, referred to in the study as the most comprehensive such database to date. Jarlath ffrench-Mullen, Ph.D., Gene Logic Scientific Director, Central Nervous System, and a co-author of the study said, "The study methodology opens doors to more in-depth genetic understanding of complex diseases, demonstrating the value of our clinical and genomics assets and capabilities. Gene expression profiles are used in such studies to identify, understand and confirm the dysregulation of specific genes and gene variants in a target pathway. This study augments our intellectual property position around a growing set of useful markers for Parkinson's disease and other complex diseases, affording excellent opportunities to develop diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic products."
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