Network-based multiple locus linkage analysis of expression traits

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Abstract
Motivation: We consider the problem of multiple locus linkage analysis for expression traits of genes in a pathway or a network. To capitalize on co-expression of functionally related genes, we propose a penalized regression method that maps multiple expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for all related genes simultaneously while accounting for their shared functions as specified a priori by a gene pathway or network. Results: An analysis of a mouse dataset and simulation studies clearly demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method over a standard approach that ignores biological knowledge of gene networks. Contact:weip@biostat.umn.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.