ST. LOUIS — 8/8/17 — Partek genomic analysis software recently received its six thousandth citation in the June edition of Science Translational Medicine. To celebrate, Partek reached out to the authors of the paper that brought them to this milestone: Type 2 immunity is protective in metabolic disease but exacerbates NAFLD collaboratively with TGF-β.
The study was led by Dr. Tom A. Wynn of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Kevin M. Hart of the same institute and Dr. Thomas Fabre of the Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal in Montréal performed the data analysis. The group used Partek Flow analysis software for their mouse RNA-Seq data.
Genomics was key in this study according to Dr. Fabre, who Partek interviewed for this occasion. “It allowed us to study the many pathways and biological processes needed to explore or validate data.” In addition, genomics was used to validate mouse data, specifically the presence of eosinophil gene signatures in publicly available microarray data from NASH patients. “This type of validation is extremely powerful as it allows us to re-explore published data sets to validate current findings.”
When asked about the focus of this study, Fabre responded that it, “was to characterize the contribution of type I and II immunity in promoting fibrosis in the context of non-alcoholic hepatitis (NASH).” He explained that NASH is one of the most common chronic liver diseases in North America and can lead to severe complications such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Fabre went on to say “prior to their research, it was thought that type I immunity was driving the progression of liver fibrosis, as dysregulation of type I immunity induces inflammatory responses in adipose tissue. Alternately, type II immunity contributes to homeostatic metabolic responses in adipose tissues.” Using mouse models, they found it was actually just the opposite; “type II immunity promotes protection in adipose tissue but it plays a pathogenic role in the liver in collaboration with the pro-fibrogenic molecule TGF-beta.”
“We are proud to have played a part in this research, and the research of all scientists who have used our software,” says Tom Downey, CEO for Partek. “While this citation marks a milestone for Partek software, we celebrate all researchers and the contributions they make every day to advance science and medicine.”
Partek citations have been featured in high-impact journals such as Cell, Science, PNAS, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Medicine, Nature, and many others. Topics include cancer genomics, neurodegenerative diseases, developmental biology, and biomarker research.
For a list of select publications, click here.