Overview
Our laboratory, part of the William S. Rowe Division of Rheumatology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, is engaged in basic and translational research to better understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for disease risk and severity in Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). Our long-term goals are to:
- Identify the genetic components of JRA.
- Provide a molecular basis for the diagnosis of patients with JRA.
- Predict responses to treatments based on biomarkers.
What are our major projects?
To identify the genetic components of JRA. JRA is the most common chronic inflammatory pediatric rheumatic disease with about 80,000 cases in the United States alone. This autoimmune disease is categorized as a complex genetic trait. Genetic studies have identified both HLA and non-HLA candidate genes and several chromosome regions for potential contribution to either JRA susceptibility or resistance. Together, the existing collection of DNA from the JRA Affected Sib Pair Registry (about 175 families) and a cohort of more than 600 simplex JRA families, the developments of the Human Genome Project and technical advances in SNP genotyping make this project possible.
To identify gene expression patterns to use as new markers of disease. The level of mRNA of all genes in blood cells will be measured by microarray analysis to identify patterns specific to: JRA patients, specific JRA subtypes, response to treatment, or outcome variables. These expression markers may provide a molecular basis for treatment decisions at early stages of disease.
Integration of data from gene expression and genetic analyses to increase understanding of disease. Novel computational methods for large-scale data mining and classification will be developed. These methods will integrate both the gene expression and genetic data to facilitate multidimensional modeling for the identification of biological pathways and processes that underlie JRA. In conjunction with clinical data, this analysis will yield powerful insights into complex pediatric diseases such as JRA.
