Prognostic role of genome-scale perturbations in respiratory epithelim

Chronic and dysplastic airway inflammations (such as allergic rhinitis, asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis, and oro-pharyngeal cancer) are heterogeneous syndromes affecting the lining of the upper part of the respiratory and digestive system. They have high morbidity- and mortality-rates and thus are a major public health problem world-wide. Biomedical research of chronic and dysplastic airway inflammations is fundamental to increase health and reduce costs. The aim of ProSpire - project is to perform Next Generation Sequencing of freshly collected clinical airway samples to search for perturbations from whole genome, DNA-methylome, RNome, miRNome, and metatranscriptome. We use several computational methods to study the associations of these candidate alterations with the presence of chronic and dysplastic airway inflammations; their morbidity, and therapy. The potential role of candidate genes and pathways as relevant biomarkers/therapeutics are further studied in larger patent series (by immunohistochemistry, ex vivo assays, etc.). The significance is to develop new cost-effective laboratory techniques and in silico workflows for prevention, prediction and individualized management of variable airway inflammations.