Lee Yin Leng, Xu Xinran, Wallenstein Sylvan, Chen Jia
Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029, USA.
J Genet Genomics. 2009 May;36(5):277-82. doi: 10.1016/S1673-8527(08)60115-0.
One-carbon metabolism plays a critical role in both DNA methylation and DNA synthesis. Accumulating evidence has shown that interruptions of this pathway are associated with many disease outcomes including cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Mechanistic studies have been performed on genetic polymorphisms involved in one-carbon metabolism. However, expression profiles of these inter-related genes are not well-known. In this study, we examined the gene expression profiles of 11 one-carbon metabolizing genes by quantifying the mRNA level of the lymphocyte among 54 healthy individuals and explored the correlations of these genes. We found these genes were expressed in lymphocytes at moderate levels and showed significant inter-person variations. We also applied principle component analysis to explore potential patterns of expression. The components identified by the program agreed with existing knowledge about one-carbon metabolism. This study helps us better understand the biological functions of one-carbon metabolism.
一碳代谢在DNA甲基化和DNA合成过程中均发挥着关键作用。越来越多的证据表明，该代谢途径的中断与包括心血管疾病和癌症在内的多种疾病结局相关。针对参与一碳代谢的基因多态性开展了机制研究。然而，这些相互关联基因的表达谱尚不明确。在本研究中，我们通过对54名健康个体淋巴细胞中的mRNA水平进行定量分析，检测了11个一碳代谢相关基因的表达谱，并探究了这些基因之间的相关性。我们发现这些基因在淋巴细胞中呈中等水平表达，且个体间存在显著差异。我们还应用主成分分析来探索潜在的表达模式。该程序识别出的成分与一碳代谢的现有知识相符。本研究有助于我们更好地理解一碳代谢的生物学功能。
