Review
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2006; 12(13): 1991-1999
Published online Apr 7, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i13.1991
Novel susceptibility genes in inflammatory bowel disease
Colin Noble, Elaine Nimmo, Daniel Gaya, Richard K Russell, Jack Satsangi
Colin Noble, Elaine Nimmo, Daniel Gaya, Richard K Russell, Jack Satsangi, Gastrointestinal Unit, Molecular Medicine Centre, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Colin Noble, MRCP, Gastrointestinal Unit, Molecular Medicine Centre, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, United Kindgom. cnoble1@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-131-5371731  Fax: +44-131-5371007
Received: October 18, 2005
Revised: November 11, 2005
Accepted: November 18, 2005
Published online: April 7, 2006
Abstract

The inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are polygenic disorders with important environmental interactions. To date, the most widely adopted approach to identifying susceptibility genes in complex diseases has involved genome wide linkage studies followed by studies of positional candidate genes in loci of interest. This review encompasses data from studies into novel candidate genes implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Novel techniques to identify candidate genes-genome wide association studies, yeast-two hybrid screening, microarray gene expression studies and proteomic profiling, are also reviewed and their potential role in unravelling the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease are discussed.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis; Yeast- two hybrid; Genomics