Director: Wolfgang Sadee, Felts Mercer Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Staff Scientist: Danxin Wang, M.D., Ph.D.
Core Laboratory Director: Audrey Papp
Objective: Determine the contribution of genetic and epigenetic factors to disease and treatment response.
Genetic factors play a key role in disease susceptibility, disease progression, and treatment outcomes. Therefore, assessment of an individual's genetic profile has the potential to improve disease prevention and therapy, contributing to the emerging era of personalized health care. Yet, the genetic factors remain uncertain for most complex diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and CNS disorders, and diabetes. The OSU Program in Pharmacogenomics has developed three main strategies for studying genetic factors in disease and therapy:
Taken together, these combined methodologies have proven pwoerful in revealing new functional polymorphisms as potential biomarkers, novel drug targets, and mechanisms of chemoresistance in cancer treatments. Specifically, we have developed rapid assays for measuring allelic mRNA expression imbalance (AEI), as a precise phenotype for identifying functional polymorphisms affecting gene regulation and mRNA processing in human tissues. Together with a rapid analysis of epigenetic factors (CpG methylation) and mRNA splicing, this combined approach yields a quantitative assessment of gene expression in relevant tissues - a unique capability of the OSU program. Applying AEI analysis to >60 candidate genes, implicated in CNS disorders, coronary artery disease and hypertension, and cancer, we have discovered novel frequent functional polymorphisms in key candidate genes (e.g., OPRM1, MDR1, MAOA, TPH2, ACE). Several of these polymorphisms have revealed associations with clinical phenotypes, such as suicidal behavior in depressed patients, memory processing, and primary outcomes in hypertension.
The combined capabilities of the OSU Program in Pharmacogenomics include advanced expertise in bioinformatics, data storage and handling, and statistical evaluation (the latter in consultation with faculty statisticians). A series of clinical trials is currently ongoing, involving subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disorders, drug addiction, depression and schizophrenia, HIV/AIDS, and cancers. The Core Laboratory is fully equipped to support the immediate translation of basic molecular genetics research into diverse clinical trials, probing genetic factors in disease and treatment outcomes.
The OSU Program also supports education in the area of pharmacogenomics/genomics.
Recommended Courses