PairsDB atlas of protein sequence space.

Sequence similarity/database searching is a cornerstone of molecular biology. PairsDB is a database intended to make exploring protein sequences and their similarity relationships quick and easy. Behind PairsDB is a comprehensive collection of protein sequences and BLAST and PSI-BLAST alignments between them. Instead of running BLAST or PSI-BLAST individually on each request, results are retrieved instantaneously from a database of pre-computed alignments. Filtering options allow you to find a set of sequences satisfying a set of criteria-for example, all human proteins with solved structure and without transmembrane segments. PairsDB is continually updated and covers all sequences in Uniprot. The data is stored in a MySQL relational database. Data files will be made available for download at ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/molbio. PairsDB can also be accessed interactively at http://pairsdb.csc.fi. PairsDB data is a valuable platform to build various downstream automated analysis pipelines. For example, the graph of all-against-all similarity relationships is the starting point for clustering protein families, delineating domains, improving alignment accuracy by consistency measures, and defining orthologous genes. Moreover, query-anchored stacked sequence alignments, profiles and consensus sequences are useful in studies of sequence conservation patterns for clues about possible functional sites.

TreeDT: tree pattern mining for gene mapping.

We describe TreeDT, a novel association-based gene mapping method. Given a set of disease-associated haplotypes and a set of control haplotypes, TreeDT predicts likely locations of a disease susceptibility gene. TreeDT extracts, essentially in the form of haplotype trees, information about historical recombinations in the population: A haplotype tree constructed at a given chromosomal location is an estimate of the genealogy of the haplotypes. TreeDT constructs these trees for all locations on the given haplotypes and performs a novel disequilibrium test on each tree: Is there a small set of subtrees with relatively high proportions of disease-associated chromosomes, suggesting shared genetic history for those and a likely disease gene location? We give a detailed description of TreeDT and the tree disequilibrium tests, we analyze the algorithm formally, and we evaluate its performance experimentally on both simulated and real data sets. Experimental results demonstrate that TreeDT has high accuracy on difficult mapping tasks and comparisons to other methods (EATDT, HPM, TDT) show that TreeDT is very competitive.

ELMOD2 is a candidate gene for familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

We performed a genomewide scan in six multiplex families with familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who originated from southeastern Finland. The majority of the Finnish multiplex families were clustered in the region, and the population history suggested that the clustering might be explained by an ancestor shared among the patients. The genomewide scan identified five loci of interest. The hierarchical fine mapping in an extended data set with 24 families originating from the same geographic region revealed a shared 110 kb to 13 Mb haplotype on chromosome 4q31, which was significantly more frequent among the patients than in population-based controls (odds ratio 6.3; 95% CI 2.5-15.9; P = .0001). The shared haplotype harbored two functionally uncharacterized genes, ELMOD2 and LOC152586, of which only ELMOD2 was expressed in lung and showed significantly decreased messenger-RNA expression in IPF lung (n = 6) when compared with that of healthy lung (n = 7; P = .05). Our results suggest ELMOD2 as a novel candidate gene for susceptibility in familial IPF.

Data mining and multiparameter analysis of lung surfactant protein genes in bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the most common chronic lung disease in infancy, is influenced by a number of antenatal and postnatal risk factors and is mostly preceded by respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in the newborn. Surfactant protein (SP-A, -B, -C and -D) gene variations may play a role in both BPD and RDS. An association study between these candidate genes and BPD was performed. A total of 365 preterm Finnish infants in a high-risk population with gestational age

Genome-wide search in Finnish families with inflammatory bowel disease provides evidence for novel susceptibility loci.

Epidemiological and genetic linkage studies have indicated a strong genetic basis for development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which was recently supported by discovery of the Crohn's disease (CD) susceptibility gene termed NOD2/CARD15. We carried out a genome-wide linkage study in Finnish IBD families, providing a particular advantage to map susceptibility genes for ulcerative colitis (UC) within a genetic isolate. Initially, 92 IBD families with 138 affected sib-pairs (ASPs), were genotyped for 429 markers spaced at approximately 10 cM intervals. Next, the loci on chromosomes 2p13-11, 11p12-q13, and 12p13-12 were high-density mapped in the extended family cohort of 130 families with 173 ASPs. In this study, the most significant lod scores were observed for the UC families on chromosome 2p11 (D2S2333), in the vicinity of the REG gene cluster which is strikingly overexpressed in the IBD mucosa. The maximum two-point lod score was 3.34 (dominant model), and the corresponding NPL score 2.61. For UC, the second highest two-point NPL score of 2.00 was observed at proximal 12p13, where also some evidence for linkage disequilibrium emerged (P=0.07 and P=0.007 for the basic and extended IBD cohorts, respectively). The highest two-point NPL score for the CD families was 2.34 at D12S78 (12q23) with significant evidence for linkage disequilibrium (P=0.004), and for the mixed (MX) families 2.07 at D4S406 near the linkage peak reported previously. This study confirmed several of the IBD loci that have previously been reported and gives evidence for new IBD loci on chromosomes 2p11, 11p12-q13, 12p13-12, 12q23, and 19q13.

Susceptibility loci for preeclampsia on chromosomes 2p25 and 9p13 in Finnish families.

Preeclampsia is a common, pregnancy-specific disorder characterized by reduced placental perfusion, endothelial dysfunction, elevated blood pressure, and proteinuria. The pathogenesis of this heterogeneous disorder is incompletely understood, but it has a familial component, which suggests that one or more common alleles may act as susceptibility genes. We hypothesized that, in a founder population, the genetic background of preeclampsia might also show reduced heterogeneity, and we have performed a genomewide scan in 15 multiplex families recruited predominantly in the Kainuu province in central eastern Finland. We found two loci that exceeded the threshold for significant linkage: chromosome 2p25, near marker D2S168 (nonparametric linkage [NPL] score 3.77; P=.000761) at 21.70 cM, and 9p13, near marker D9S169 (NPL score 3.74; P=.000821) at 38.90 cM. In addition, there was a locus showing suggestive linkage at chromosome 4q32 between D4S413 and D4S3046 (NPL score 3.13; P=.003238) at 163.00 cM. In the present study the susceptibility locus on chromosome 2p25 is clearly different (21.70 cM) from the locus at 2p12 found in an Icelandic study (94.05 cM) and the locus at 2q23 (144.7 cM) found in an Australian/New Zealand study. The locus at 9p13 has been shown to be a candidate region for type 2 diabetes in two recently published genomewide scans from Finland and China. The regions on chromosomes 2p25 and 9p13 may harbor susceptibility genes for preeclampsia.

A new locus for coeliac disease mapped to chromosome 15 in a population isolate.

Coeliac disease is a common multifactorial disease with a strong genetic component, which is not entirely explained by the HLA association. Four previous whole-genome screens have produced somewhat inconsistent results suggesting genetic heterogeneity. We attempted to overcome this problem by performing a genome-wide scan in a Finnish sub-population, expected to be more homogeneous than the general population of Finland. The families in our study originate from the northeastern part of Finland, the Koilliskaira region, which has been relatively isolated since its founding in the 16th century. Genealogical studies have confirmed that the families share a common ancestor in the 16th century. Nine families with altogether 23 patients were genotyped for 399 microsatellite markers and the data were analysed with parametric linkage analysis using two dominant and one recessive model. A region on chromosome 15q11-q13 was implicated with a LOD score of 3.14 using a highly penetrant dominant model. Addition of more markers and one more sib-pair increased the LOD score to 3.74. This result gives preliminary evidence for existence of a susceptibility factor in this chromosomal region.

A novel low-penetrance locus for familial glioma at 15q23-q26.3.

Epidemiological studies and case reports suggest that familial clustering of gliomas may occur in families that do not fit any known tumor syndromes. In the present study, 15 familial glioma pedigrees from a limited geographical area were hypothesized to carry the same low-penetrance susceptibility allele. We used a two-stage strategy for disease gene mapping. A genome scan in four glioma families revealed four interesting loci at chromosome arms 1q, 6q, 8p, and 15q. Additional markers in these regions provided evidence of significant linkage to 15q23-q26.3 with a maximum nonparametric linkage score of 3.35 with marker D15S130. Investigation of all 15 glioma families by association analysis (haplotype pattern mining) and through use of the transmission/disequilibrium test gave further evidence of significant association/transmission distortion at the same 15q locus (P = 0.02 and P = 0.03, respectively). No evidence of involvement of known tumor syndromes was obtained from the data provided by the linkage analysis or hospital records. Thus, the first genome-wide linkage analysis of familial glioma suggests a novel susceptibility locus at 15q23-q26.3.