OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effect of age on the protein profile of Malay individuals and its association with cognitive competency.
METHODS: A total of 160 individuals were recruited and grouped accordingly. Cognitive competency of each subject was assessed with several neuropsychological tests. Plasma samples were collected and analyzed with Q Exactive HF Orbitrap. Proteins were identified and quantitated with MaxQuant and further analyzed with Perseus to determine differentially expressed proteins. PANTHER, Reactome, and STRING were applied for bioinformatics output.
RESULTS: Our data showed that the Malay individuals are vulnerable to the deterioration of cognitive function with aging, and most of the proteins were differentially expressed in concordance. Several physiological components and pathways were shown to be involved, giving a hint of a promising interpretation on the induction of aging toward the state of the Malays' cognitive function. Nevertheless, some proteins have shown a considerable interaction with the generated protein network, which provides a direction of focus for further investigation.
CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated notable changes in the expression of several proteins as age increased. These changes provide a promising platform for understanding the biochemical factors affecting cognitive function in the Malay population. The exhibited network of protein-protein interaction suggests the possibility of implementing regulatory intervention in ameliorating Malay cognitive function.
METHODS: Genomic DNA obtained from a 55 years old, self-declared healthy, anonymous male of Malay descent was sequenced. The subject's mother died of lung cancer and the father had a history of schizophrenia and deceased at the age of 65 years old. A systematic, intuitive computational workflow/pipeline integrating custom algorithm in tandem with large datasets of variant annotations and gene functions for genetic variations with pharmacogenomics impact was developed. A comprehensive pathway map of drug transport, metabolism and action was used as a template to map non-synonymous variations with potential functional consequences.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Over 3 million known variations and 100,898 novel variations in the Malay genome were identified. Further in-depth pharmacogenetics analysis revealed a total of 607 unique variants in 563 proteins, with the eventual identification of 4 drug transport genes, 2 drug metabolizing enzyme genes and 33 target genes harboring deleterious SNVs involved in pharmacological pathways, which could have a potential role in clinical settings.
CONCLUSIONS: The current study successfully unravels the potential of personal genome sequencing in understanding the functionally relevant variations with potential influence on drug transport, metabolism and differential therapeutic outcomes. These will be essential for realizing personalized medicine through the use of comprehensive computational pipeline for systematic data mining and analysis.