Journal of Rheumatic Diseases  2016;23(6):363-372

doi:10.4078/jrd.2016.23.6.363

Gene Expression Profile in Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis: Meta-analysis of Publicly Accessible Microarray Datasets.

Robin PARK 1 ; Tae Hwan KIM ; Jong Dae JI

Affiliations

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Keywords

Axial spondyloarthritis; Ankylosing spondylitis; Microarray; Network analysis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify a gene expression signature in axial spondyloarthritis/ankylosing spondylitis (SpA/AS) and genomic pathways likely to be involved in pathogenesis of SpA/AS patients. METHODS: Four publicly accessible microarray studies from SpA/AS patients were integrated, and a transcriptomic and network-based meta-analysis was performed. This meta-analysis was compared with a published microarray study in whole blood of AS patients. RESULTS: According to our meta-analysis, 1,798 genes were differentially expressed in the whole blood of SpA/AS patients compared to healthy controls, while 674 genes were differentially expressed in the synovium of SpA/AS patients compared to healthy controls. When the whole blood meta-analysis data was compared with a published microarray study that also analyzed whole blood in SpA/AS patients, pathways involved in Toll-like receptor signaling, osteoclast differentiation, T cell receptor signaling and janus kinase–signal transducer and activator of transcription (Jak-STAT) signaling were often enriched in SpA/AS. On the other hand, eomesodermin, RUNX3, and interleukin-7 receptor (IL7R) were usually decreased in SpA/AS patients, suggesting that deficiency of these genes contributes to increased IL-17 production in AS. CONCLUSION: Several common enrichment pathways including Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, osteoclast differentiation, T cell receptor signaling pathway and Jak-STAT signaling pathway were identified in the differentially expressed genes of whole blood and synovium from SpA/AS patients, suggesting that these pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of SpA/AS.