Transcriptional profiling of lymphoblast lines from subjects with panic disorder

In attempts to isolate genetic vulnerability factors for panic disorder (PD), a number of investigators have used genome-wide linkage or association analyses. But these attempts have been only modestly successful which suggests that alternative approaches may be needed to define the biology of PD. Therefore, using recently developed genome-wide gene expression profiling, we explored whether transcriptional signatures associated with PD are present in lymphoblast cell line. The expression of 2,469 transcripts in lymphoblast cell lines from 16 subjects was arithmetically increased in every line and significantly increased overall and 354 transcripts was arithmetically decreased in every cell line and significantly decreased overall as compared to those lymphoblast lines from 17 subjects without a history of behavioral illness. Further sex specific analyses showed that in those 10 lines derived from female probands, the expression of a further 67 transcripts was arithmetically increased in every line and significantly increased overall and a further 332 transcripts was arithmetically decreased in every cell line and significantly decreased. Conversely, in cell lines from the six male probands, the expression of an additional 212 was arithmetically increased in every line and significantly increased overall and a further 332 transcripts was arithmetically decreased in every cell line. We conclude that lymphoblast cell lines derived from subjects with PD have significant, partially sex dependent changes in gene transcription. Further studies are necessary to correlate these changes in these hemopoetically derived cells with those changes postulated to occur in the CNS in association with PD.