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| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Genome-wide co-expression analysis in multiple tissues |
| Creators Name: | Grieve, I.C., Dickens, N.J., Pravenec, M., Kren, V., Huebner, N., Cook, S.A., Aitman, T.J., Petretto, E. and Mangion, J. |
| Abstract: | Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) represent genetic control points of gene expression, and can be categorized as cis- and trans-acting, reflecting local and distant regulation of gene expression respectively. Although there is evidence of co-regulation within clusters of trans-eQTLs, the extent of co-expression patterns and their relationship with the genotypes at eQTLs are not fully understood. We have mapped thousands of cis- and trans-eQTLs in four tissues (fat, kidney, adrenal and left ventricle) in a large panel of rat recombinant inbred (RI) strains. Here we investigate the genome-wide correlation structure in expression levels of eQTL transcripts and underlying genotypes to elucidate the nature of co-regulation within cis- and trans-eQTL datasets. Across the four tissues, we consistently found statistically significant correlations of cis-regulated gene expression to be rare (<0.9% of all pairs tested). Most (>80%) of the observed significant correlations of cis-regulated gene expression are explained by correlation of the underlying genotypes. In comparison, co-expression of trans-regulated gene expression is more common, with significant correlation ranging from 2.9%-14.9% of all pairs of trans-eQTL transcripts. We observed a total of 81 trans-eQTL clusters (hot-spots), defined as consisting of >/=10 eQTLs linked to a common region, with very high levels of correlation between trans-regulated transcripts (77.2-90.2%). Moreover, functional analysis of large trans-eQTL clusters (>/=30 eQTLs) revealed significant functional enrichment among genes comprising 80% of the large clusters. The results of this genome-wide co-expression study show the effects of the eQTL genotypes on the observed patterns of correlation, and suggest that functional relatedness between genes underlying trans-eQTLs is reflected in the degree of co-expression observed in trans-eQTL clusters. Our results demonstrate the power of an integrative, systematic approach to the analysis of a large gene expression dataset to uncover underlying structure, and inform future eQTL studies. |
| Keywords: | Gene Expression, Gene Expression Regulation, Regulator Genes, Genome, Genotype, Linkage, Microsatellite Repeats, Genetic Models, Theoretical Models, Multigene Family, Quantitative Trait Loci, Tissue Distribution, Animals, Rats |
| Source: | PLoS ONE |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
| Volume: | 3 |
| Number: | 12 |
| Page Range: | e4033 |
| Date: | 29 December 2008 |
| Official Publication: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004033 |
| PubMed: | View item in PubMed |
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