Molecular Association between Diabetes-Specific Local Gene Network and Nutrient Metabolism Modules

Local gene network pattern (LGNP) is a useful tool to display complex relationship between multiple genes. A diabetes-specific local gene network (LGN) was constructed with 29 genes (including 9 diabetes susceptibility genes and 20 extra genes to join them) that participate in 30 biological pathways. Further analysis indicated diabetes-specific LGN has close relations with carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, cofactor and vitamin metabolism. Especially, molecular links demonstrated diabetes was associated with alanine and nicotinamide metabolism, consistent with previous reports. Preliminary six microarray data revealed that some key nutrient metabolism related genes were de-regulated in insulin treated muscles, providing clues how to transform diabetes-specific-LGNP with personalized nutrient formula in future.