Understanding the Links Between Human Diseases and Metabolic Pathways
Author Information
Author(s): Li Xia, Li Chunquan, Shang Desi, Li Jing, Han Junwei, Miao Yingbo, Wang Yan, Wang Qianghu, Li Wei, Wu Chao, Zhang Yunpeng, Li Xiang, Yao Qianlan
Primary Institution: Bio-Pharmaceutical Key Laboratory of Heilongjiang Province, and College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University
Hypothesis
The study aims to explore the relationships between the initiation and progression of diseases and abnormalities in local regions of metabolic pathways.
Conclusion
The study found that abnormalities in fundamental metabolic processes are likely to cause a wider variety of diseases.
Supporting Evidence
- Abnormalities in fundamental metabolic processes tend to cause more types of diseases.
- High connectivity of certain subpathways with multiple diseases was observed.
- The ratio of disease genes significantly increased with the number of diseases caused by a subpathway.
- Essential genes showed a negative correlation with the degree of subpathways.
- Tissue-specific genes were positively correlated with disease diversity in subpathways.
Takeaway
This study shows that problems in certain metabolic pathways can lead to many different diseases, like how a broken toy can stop it from working properly.
Methodology
The researchers constructed a disease-metabolic subpathway network using disease-gene associations and a 'k-clique' subpathway identification method.
Limitations
The completeness of the DMSPN is limited by the quality of metabolic pathway data and disease-gene associations.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.01
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website