Differential correlation network analysis of rectal transcriptomes reveals cystic fibrosis-related disturbance.

Background: Intestinal pathology in cystic fibrosis (CF) remains mechanistically underexplored. Aim: We hypothesized that differential correlation network analysis of expression data would reveal hub genes of CF-related disturbance in the large bowel. Materials & methods: Transcriptomes of 29 rectal tissue samples were accessed at ArrayExpress (E-GEOD-15568 by Stanke et al. ). Results: We identified 279 transcript pairs differentially correlating in CF and controls, including: ESRRA and RPL18 (r _CF  = 0.55; r _controls  = -0.68; p _adj  = 1.60 × 10 ^-100 ), SRP14 and FAU (r _CF  = -0.69; r _controls  = 0.48; p _adj  = 2.99 × 10 ^-90 ), SRP14 and GDI2 (r _CF  = -0.34; r _controls  = 0.60; p _adj  = 1.05 × 10 ^-78 ). The genes related to membrane protein targeting (q = 8.34 × 10 ^-14 ) and one cluster was clearly linked to male infertility. Conclusion: FAU , SRP14  and GDI2 may be involved in a compensatory protein trafficking mechanism in CF rectum, highlighting their potential therapeutic value.