A bioinformatic approach to epigenetic susceptibility in non-disjunctional diseases

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present a fully "in silico" approach for the identification of genes that might be involved in the susceptibility for non disjunction diseases and their regulation by methylation processes. We have carried out a strategy based on the use of online available bioinformatics databases and programs for the retrieval and identification of interesting genes. As result we have obtained 29 putative susceptibility genes regulated by methylation processes. We were neither on the need of developing new software nor carry out clinical laboratory experiments for the identification of these genes. We consider that this "in silico" methodology is robust enough to provide candidate genes that must be checked "in vivo" due to the clinical relevance of non disjunction diseases with the aim of providing new tools and criteria for their diagnostics. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.