Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) believe that blood may hold vital insights into what is happening in the brain of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
In a study unparalleled in its scope, a team led by UNSW Professor Andrew Lloyd of the Centre for Infection and Inflammation Research, has studied the differences in gene expression patterns in the blood of people who either recover promptly after acute glandular fever or develop the prolonged illness called post-infective syndrome.
The researchers examined six million pieces of gene expression information for analysis in the project, known as the Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study. The study is named after the NSW town in which the work was conducted. The team studied the expression of 30,000 genes in the blood, testing each of the 15 individuals between four and five times over a 12-month period.
The team was able to narrow its findings to the expression of just 35 genes whose pattern of expression correlated closely with the key symptoms of the illness when examined from onset through to recovery. Gene expression is significant because it is the process by which a gene’s DNA sequence is converted into the proteins which ultimately determine the manifestations of disease.
The research paper has been published and selected for editorial comment in the prestigious Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Since 1999, the team has been tracking the long-term health of individuals infected with Ross River virus (RRV), Q fever infection and Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever.
“These [35] genes might point to the nature of the disease process that underlies CFS, which is currently unknown,” said Professor Lloyd, who is based in the School of Medical Sciences at UNSW. “None of them are ones that I would have predicted, except for those relating to neurotransmitters,” he concedes. “Some of them relate to transport of zinc and other metal ions within the cell, which may suggest a fundamental disturbance in cellular function.”
The researchers now hope to take narrow the focus of research onto the expression of these 35 genes in the blood of a much larger group of subjects from the Dubbo Infection Outcomes Study, with varied patterns of illness and recovery.
“There are very few complex diseases which have been comprehensively analysed, with large scale and longitudinal studies, like this,” said Professor Lloyd. “It sets a standard for highly sophisticated, comprehensive gene expression studies in the blood of all sorts of human diseases from rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis through to schizophrenia.”
Source: University of New South Wales
Related stories:
Reprogrammable cell type depends on a single gene to keep its identity
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that a certain differentiated cell type is so ready to change its identity that it requires the constant expression of a gene called Prox1 to dissuade it.
Scientists Shed Light on Evolution of Gene Regulation
Scientists at Penn State have shed light on some of the processes that regulate genes -- such as the processes that ensure that proteins are produced at the correct time, place, and amount in an organism -- and they also have shed light on the evolution of the DNA regions that regulate genes. The team focused on regulatory regions that, when bound to the protein GATA1, are thought to turn on genes that play an important role in the development of red blood cells. "Our findings could help others to develop drugs to treat people who suffer from sickle-cell anemia and other blood disorders," said Ross Hardison, the T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the team's leader. The results will be published on 1 December 2008 in the journal
Genome Research.
Researchers discover strategy for predicting the immunity of vaccines
In the first study of its kind, researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University, have developed a multidisciplinary approach involving immunology, genomics and bioinformatics to predict the immunity of a vaccine without exposing individuals to infection. This approach addresses a long-standing challenge in the development of vaccines--that of only being able to determine immunity or effectiveness long after vaccination and, often, only after being exposed to infection.
Researchers Shed Light on Evolution of Gene Regulation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Penn State have shed light on some of the processes that regulate genes -- such as the processes that ensure that proteins are produced at the correct time, place, and amount in an organism -- and they also have shed light on the evolution of the DNA regions that regulate genes. The team focused on regulatory regions that, when bound to the protein GATA1, are thought to turn on genes that play an important role in the development of red blood cells.
Gene chips accurately detect pneumonia in ICU patients on ventilators
Even seasoned doctors have a difficult time diagnosing pneumonia in hospitalized patients breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. That's because a patient's underlying illness often skews laboratory test results and masks pneumonia's symptoms.
Researchers describe how chronic inflammation can lead to stomach cancer
A multi-center research team, led by Columbia University Medical Center, has uncovered a major contributor to the cause of stomach cancer – the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. The team described for the first time, that elevated levels of a single proinflammatory cytokine, an immune system protein called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), can start the progression towards stomach cancer. These results are published in the Nov. 4, 2008 issue of
Cancer Cell. The researchers hope to use this finding to develop ways to block this process, thereby preventing cancer from developing.
Persistent bacterial infection exploits killing machinery of immune cells
A new study reveals an important and newly discovered pathway used by disease-causing bacteria to evade the host immune system and survive and grow within the very cells meant to destroy them. This discovery may lead to new treatments and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and certain other chronic bacterial and parasitic infections.
Type-1 diabetes not so much bad genes as good genes behaving badly
Investigators combing the genome in the hope of finding genetic variants responsible for triggering early-onset diabetes may be looking in the wrong place, new research at the Stanford University School of Medicine suggests.