Genomics in multiple sclerosis

Habek, Mario; Borovečki, Fran; Brinar, Vesna V.

doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2010.03.028

« Previous Next »Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
Volume 112, Issue 7 , Pages 621-624, September 2010

Genomics in multiple sclerosis

Mario Habek
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Refferal Center for Demyelinating Diseases of the Central Nervous System, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Corresponding author at: University Department of Neurology, Zagreb School of Medicine and University Hospital Center, Kišpatićeva 12, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Tel.: +385 98883323; fax: +385 12421891.
Fran Borovečki
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Department for Functional Genomics, Center for Translational and Clinical Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Vesna V. Brinar
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- Refferal Center for Demyelinating Diseases of the Central Nervous System, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb and University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Received 1 March 2010; received in revised form 23 March 2010; accepted 29 March 2010.

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is chronic, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that mainly affects young adults and is characterized with dissemination of demyelinating lesions in time and space. It is well known that MS is very heterogeneous disease, so biomarkers that would reliably determine disease course, outcome or treatment response in early stages of the disease (preferentially clinically isolated syndrome) are desperately needed. Genome-wide expression analysis represents the profile of all genes in a certain tissue or cell population in a certain time point. Therefore, as the sequence of the human genome is entirely known, it is possible to analyze any given human gene in any given context. This review will discuss results and possible applications of genome-wide expression studies in brain tissue and blood samples of MS patients.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Biomarkers, Genomics, Microarrays