Towards finding the linkage between metabolic and age-related disorders using semantic gene data network analysis

Abstract

A metabolic disorder (MD) occurs when the metabolic process is disturbed. This process is carried out by thousands of enzymes participating in numerous inter-dependent metabolic pathways. Critical biochemical reactions that involve the processing and transportation of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids are affected in metabolic diseases. Therefore, it is of interest to identify the common pathways of metabolic disorders by building protein-protein interactions (PPI) for network analysis. The molecular network linkages between MD and age related diseases (ARD) are intriguing. Hence, we created networks of protein-protein interactions that are related with MD and ARD using relevant known data in the public domain. The network analysis identified known MD associated proteins and predicted genes and or its products of ARD in common pathways. The genes in the common pathways were isolated from the network and further analyzed for their co-localization and shared domains. Thus, a model hypothesis is proposed using interaction networks that are linked between MD and ARD. This data even if less conclusive finds application in understanding the molecular mechanism of known diseases in relation to observed molecular events.

Figure 1

A schematic representation for the linkage hypothesis between MD and ARD is shown.

Figure 2

A network of genes associated with the metabolic disorder (MD) is illustrated in this diagram. It should be noted that genes that are already known to be associated with the disorder is shown in the figure. Black nodes indicate known MD genes and gray nodes indicate genes that are predicted to be associated with the disorder.

Figure 3

An illustration showing common pathways between MD and ARD is given. (A) Common pathways of MD with predicted disorder associated genes are shown. (B) Five common pathways between MD and predicted disorder genes are illustrated.

Figure 4

A network between co-localized and domain-sharing genes is shown. Black nodes indicate the common pathway of genes between MD and ARD.

Figure 5

Venn diagram showing MD (dark green) and ARD (dark blue) disorders, and common genes of MD (light green) and ARD (light blue) is shown. Set of common pathway of genes for MD (light green) and intersection (Ash) for set of common genes between MD (light green) and ARD (light blue), (MD) ∩ (ARD) = {APOE, LIPC, HEPH, CP, DLD, ABCC8} are shown.