Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Cardiogenomics
The term cardiogenomics refers to the role of genes in cardiovascular system.
Microarrays are being applied to study gene expression. The patterns in the varia-
tion of expression of many genes correlate well with the models currently used to
explain the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.
More complete genomic maps allow easier identification of genes that cause
monogenic inherited diseases. In addition, analyses of variations in gene expression
in cardiovascular diseases are revealing new potential candidate genes as well as
novel biomarkers for many common, multifactorial diseases. While experiments
are revealing new pathophysiologic pathways, these genomic studies are also gen-
erating enormous amounts of data which is being analyzed with bioinformatics
techniques. Genomics is influencing the approaches of treatment and prevention of
cardiovascular diseases, and this will be discussed further under pharmacogenom-
ics of cardiovascular disorders.
Genomics of Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by impairment of cardiac contrac-
tile function leading to cardiac failure. The molecular basis of idiopathic dilated
cardiomyopathy is largely unknown but multiple etiological factors are involved.
SeqWright Inc, in collaboration with Roche and the University of Miami's Miller
School of Medicine, is conducting research to identify possible genetic variants
associated with DCM by using NimbleGen Sequence Capture Human Exome
Arrays to enrich over 180,000 exons from DNA samples from individuals affected
with this disease. SeqWright is sequencing the enriched exons to detect genetic
variants within these samples, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)
and insertions and deletions.
Cardioproteomics
Proteomics is the systematic analysis of protein profiles of tissues and the term
“proteome” refers to all proteins produced by a species, much as the genome is the
entire set of genes. Unlike the genome, the proteome varies with time and is defined
as “the proteins present in one sample (tissue, organism, cell culture) at a certain
point in time.” Proteomics parallels the related field of genomics. Proteomic tech-
nologies are described in a special report on this topic (Jain
2011
). Proteomics
provides a set of tools for the large-scale study of gene expression at the protein
level, thereby allowing for the identification of protein alterations responsible for
the development and the pathological outcome of diseases, including those of the
cardiovascular system. The term cardioproteomics refers to the use of proteomic
technologies for the study of cardiovascular system.
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