Identifying gene expression networks in hepatic fibrosis

Since liver fibrosis is a complex trait influenced by susceptibility variants as well as age, sex and environmental covariates, the underlying networks of genetic factors have not yet been defined. Here, we report the first systematic transcriptome analysis of liver fibrosis in a 'genetic reference population' of recombinant inbred lines differing in fibrosis susceptibility. The aim of our study was to identify genetic networks and regulatory mechanisms of gene expression during fibrosis progression. Therefore we generated 96 hepatic expression profiles of fibrotic livers, using Mouse Gene 1.0 ST microarrays (Af…