Prioritization and Evaluation of Depression Candidate.pdf

Prioritization and Evaluation of Depression Candidate Genes by Combining Multidimensional Data Resources 1 2 3 1,2,4 Chung-Feng Kao , Yu-Sheng Fang , Zhongming Zhao , Po-Hsiu Kuo * 1 Department of Public Health and Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 2 Institute of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, 3 Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, 4 Research Center for Genes, Environment and Human Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Abstract Background: Large scale and individual genetic studies have suggested numerous susceptible genes for depression in the past decade without conclusive results. There is a strong need to review and integrate multi-dimensional data for follow up validation. The present study aimed to apply prioritization procedures to build-up an evidence-based candidate genes dataset for depression. Methods: Depression candidate genes were collected in human and animal studies across various data resources. Each gene was scored according to its magnitude of evidence related to depression and was multiplied by a source-specific weight to form a combined score measure. All genes were evaluated through a prioritization system to obtain an optimal weight matrix to rank their relative importance with depression using the combined scores. The resulting candidate gene list for depression (DEPgenes) was further evaluated by a genome-wide association (GWA) dataset and microarray gene expression in human tissues. Results: A