Background/aims: Microarray studies used to describe altered gene expression patterns in tissues are a promising new way to provide insight into the pathomechanism of biliary atresia (BA). The hypothesis in this study was that altered gene expression in BA may be linked to regulatory transcription factors (TF). The overrepresentation of transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in the promoter regions of genes with altered expression would support this hypothesis.
Methodology: Using previously published data, the prevalence of TFBSs in the promoter regions of genes with altered expression in BA was analyzed and compared with the overall prevalence in known promoter sequences.
Results: In the pooled BA gene list 195 different TFBS were identified. The prevalence of TFBSs of the members of NFkappaB/c-Rel family was higher compared with the background model.
Conclusions: NFkappaB/c-Rel play a role in the development and function of the immune system. Thus, the results of this study support current theories and experiments which link the immune system to perinatal BA. The information obtained in this analysis will help to understand the pathogenesis of BA, but further experimental and human data are required to validate the significance of these TFs in disease pathogenesis.