Gene set enrichment analyses revealed several affected pathways in Niemann-pick disease type C fibroblasts

Niemann-pick type C (NPC) disease is characterized by endosomal and lysosomal accumulation of lipids, impaired tubulovesicular trafficking, and neurodegeneration leading to premature death. Current treatment options are limited to mainly symptomatic treatments. Thus, new and efficient drug targets are needed, and therefore we performed a Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) on NPC and healthy fibroblasts to identify globally affected pathways in NPC that could serve as targets for later drug discovery programs. Cell lines were characterized by analyzing cellular concentrations of cholesterol, its precursors and metabolites, as well as cellular plant sterol levels. Gene expression analyses were performed with Sentrix Human-8 Expression BeadChips, analyzing 23,000 transcripts. Pathway analysis of the expression data was performed using the GSEA method. Twenty-seven upregulated and 33 downregulated pathways emerged as globally affected in the GSEA analysis. These pathways included, for example, mitochondrial pathway, caspase cascade, as well as prostaglandin and leukotriene metabolism. Based on the present results and earlier published data, anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic treatment could be beneficial in NPC.