# Patent

## Title
Methods for predicting drug sensitivity in patients afflicted with an inflammatory disease

## Abstract

Methods are disclosed for predicting the efficacy of a drug for treating an inflammatory disease in a human patient, including: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile of the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific cytokines and/or mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarities between the sample expression profile and the reference expression profile predicts the efficacy of the drug for treating the inflammatory disease in the patient.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/947,991, filed Sep. 6, 2001. The entire teachings of the above application are incorporated herein by reference.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of pharmacogenomics measures differences in the effect of medications that are caused by genetic variations. Such differences are manifested by differences in the therapeutic effects or adverse events of drugs. For most drugs, the genetic variations that potentially characterize drug-responsive patients from non-responders remain unknown.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods for determining a patient's responsiveness to treatment for asthma and related inflammatory conditions.
In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a method for predicting the efficacy of a drug for treating an inflammatory disease in a human patient, comprising: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile of the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, such that similarities between the sample expression profile and the reference expression profile predicts the efficacy of the drug for treating the inflammatory disease in the patient. The reference gene expression profile can comprise expression levels of one or more informative genes listed in Tables 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B and 5A–5E. The similarity between the sample expression profile and the reference expression profile predicts the efficacy of the drug for treating the inflammatory disease in the patient. In a particular embodiment, the sample is exposed to the drug for treating the inflammatory disease prior to obtaining the gene expression profile of the sample. In a particular embodiment, the sample is exposed to the drug for treating the inflammatory disease prior to obtaining the gene expression profile of the sample. The inflammatory disease can be asthma, atopy, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile chronic arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and sepsis. The atopic inflammatory disease can be rhinitis, conjunctivitis, dermatitis and eczema. Drugs can be corticosteroids, β2-agonists and leukotriene antagonists for asthma. In addition, for inflammatory diseases, the drug can be a symptom reliever or anti-inflammatory drug for an inflammatory disease condition. In one embodiment, the sample of cells can be derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells or neutrophils. In a particular embodiment, the gene expression profile of the sample can be obtained using a hybridization assay to oligonucleotides contained in, for example, a microarray. In another embodiment, the expression profile of the sample can be obtained by detecting the protein product of informative genes. The detection of protein products can include the use of, for example, antibodies capable of specifically binding protein products of the informative genes. The reference expression profile can be, for example, that of cells derived from healthy, non-atopic, non-asthmatic individuals. In another embodiment, the reference expression profile can be that of cells derived from patients that do not have an inflammatory disease. In one embodiment, the cells are treated with the drug candidate before the expression profile is obtained.
In yet another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method of screening for glucocorticoid sensitivity in an asthmatic patient including: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile from the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro activation of the cells with specific cytokines (mediators); and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarity in expression profiles between the sample and reference profiles indicates glucocorticoid sensitivity in the patient from whom the sample was obtained.
In yet another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method for predicting efficacy in a human asthmatic patient of leukotriene antagonists, including: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile from the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarity in expression profiles between the sample and reference profiles predicts the efficacy in the human asthmatic patient of leukotriene antagonists.
In another embodiment, the invention is directed to an expression profile comprising expression levels of gene products from one or more genes described in Tables 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B and 5A–5E.
In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method for predicting the efficacy in a human asthma patient of leukotriene antagonists including, but not limited to, montelukast (a.k.a., SINGULAIRTM; Merck, Whitehouse Station, N.J.), zafirlukast (a.k.a., ACCOLATETM, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, Del.), and zileuton (a.k.a., ZYFLOTM; Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, Ill.), comprising: obtaining a sample of cells from the patient; obtaining a gene expression profile from the sample in the absence and presence of in vitro modulation of the cells with specific mediators; and comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile, wherein similarity in expression profiles between the sample and reference profiles predicts the efficacy in the human asthmatic patient of leukotriene antagonists.
In another embodiment, the invention is directed to a kit for predicting the efficacy of a drug for treating an inflammatory disease in a human patient according to the methods described herein comprising hybridization probes capable of hybridizing to polynucleotides corresponding to pre-determined informative genes and reagents for detecting hybridization. In a different embodiment, the invention is directed to a kit for predicting the efficacy of a drug for treating an inflammatory disease in a human patient according to the methods described herein comprising antibodies capable of specifically binding protein products of pre-selected informative genes and reagents for detecting antibody binding.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawings will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a representative Bayesian matrix plot demonstrating the predictive accuracy of a naïve Bayesian classifier in predicting drug response phenotypes of 14 glucocorticoid resistant (GC-R) and 14 glucocorticoid sensitive (GC-S) patients. The 50 genes predicted the correct drug response phenotype with 82% accuracy.
FIG. 2 is a representative Bayesian matrix plot demonstrating predictive accuracy of a naïve Bayesian classifier in predicting drug response phenotype of GC-R and GC-S patients when all 54 patients were included in training the classifier. Fifty genes were selected that predicted the correct drug response phenotype with 81% accuracy.
FIG. 3 is a representative Bayesian matrix plot demonstrating the predictive accuracy of a naïve Bayesian classifier in predicting a drug response phenotype of an independent cohort of 14 GC-R patients that were not used in the process of gene selection or in training of the classifier. The 50 genes selected predicted the correct drug response phenotype with 86% accuracy.
FIG. 4 is a representative matrix plot showing the differential expression of 15 genes (see Table 5) that were examined in 88 patients. In addition to the genes listed above, all of which carry a predicted weight, these 15 genes most accurately differentiated a cohort of GC responders from non-responders using the induction time point for the training set. Together, these genes predicted the correct GC response phenotype of an independent patient cohort of equal size with 86% accuracy.
FIG. 5 is a plot demonstrating predictive accuracy of a naïve Bayesian classifier in predicting the drug response phenotype of a cohort of 12 Leukotriene Sensitive (LT-S) and 12 Leukotriene Resistant (LT-R) patients using the “leave one out cross validation” (LOOCV) method. The 12 genes selected predicted the correct drug response phenotype with over 90% accuracy.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A description of preferred embodiments of the invention follows.
The present invention is directed to methods for predicting efficacy of drug treatment in asthma patients and to methods for screening drug candidates useful in treating inflammatory diseases. Current methods of treating asthma involve the use of corticosteroids, β2-agonists or leukotriene antagonists. Although asthma has been treated by these methods for several years, a significant fraction of asthma patients are resistant to treatment. As there are risks associated with methods for treating asthma, identification of patients that will be responsive to treatment is important. Methods described herein are used to identify genes that are differentially expressed in responsive patients when compared to non-responsive patients, thereby allowing for a convenient determination of patients that are responsive to treatment. Described herein are methods for activating in cultured cells obtained from patient samples and methods for utilizing said cultured cells for drug screening and obtaining expression profiles.
Asthma, or Reversible Obstructive Airway Disease (ROAD), is a condition in which the airways of the lungs become either narrowed or completely blocked, impeding normal breathing and leading to potentially more severe health problems. Although normal airways have the potential for constricting in response to allergens or irritants, the asthmatic's airways are oversensitive or hyper-reactive. In response to stimuli, the airways may become obstructed by one of the following: constriction of the muscles surrounding the airway; inflammation and swelling of the airway; or increased mucus production that clogs the airway. Once the airways have become obstructed, it takes more effort to force air through them, so that breathing becomes labored. Because exhaling through the obstructed airways is difficult, too much stale air remains in the lungs after each breath. This accumulation of stale air decreases the amount of fresh air that can be taken in with each new breath, so not only is there less oxygen available for the whole body, the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the lungs causes the blood supply to become acidic as well. This acidity in the blood may rise to toxic levels if the asthma remains untreated.
Although asthma creates difficulties in breathing and can lead to more serious problems, the lung obstruction associated with asthma is reversible, either spontaneously or with medication. Asthmatics can take anti-inflammatory agents such as corticosteroids, bronchodilators and leukotriene antagonists to reduce inflammation and asthma symptoms.
Corticosteroids are sometimes also referred to as “steroids.” This type of medication is not related to the anabolic steroids that are misused by some athletes to increase performance. Rather, corticosteroids have been used as a treatment for asthma and allergies since 1948. They decrease airway inflammation and swelling in the bronchial tubes; reduce mucus production by the cells lining the bronchial tubes; decrease the chain of overreaction (hyper-reactivity) in the airways; and help the airway smooth muscle respond to other medications. Corticosteroids can be administered in a variety of ways, such as through the use of an inhaler, topically, orally, or through injection. Topical preparations (on specific surface areas such as skin or the lining of the bronchial tubes) may be applied as creams or sprays (inhalers). Corticosteroid inhalers are recommended for patients with daily, moderate or severe asthma symptoms. Oral corticosteroids and injected corticosteroids are generally only prescribed for those with severe asthma symptoms.
Although the use of corticosteroids has been commonplace for several years, they are not always effective and significant side effects do occur. Some people experience minor side effects of hoarseness and thrush (a fungal infection of the mouth and throat) from using corticosteroid inhalers. Also, long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids has been implicated in reduced growth velocity in children. Oral corticosteroids can have more side effects than inhaled corticosteroids. Oral corticosteroids are prescribed for long durations only when other treatments have failed to restore normal lung function and the risks of uncontrolled asthma are greater than the side effects of the steroids. For example, prednisone, one of the most commonly prescribed corticosteroids, can lead to possible side effects of weight gain, increased appetite, menstrual irregularities and cramps, heartburn, and indigestion. Some patients experience side effects such as loss of energy, poor appetite, and severe muscle aches or joint pains when their dosage of cortisone tablets is decreased. Long-term oral corticosteroid use may cause side effects such as ulcers, weight gain, cataracts, weakened bones and skin, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, easy bruising and decreased growth in children. Such side effects indicate a need to accurately assess the efficacy of corticosteroid treatment in asthmatic patients.
Bronchodilators, also called “β2-agonists”, are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications often used as short-term “rescue” medications to immediately relieve asthma symptoms. Bronchodilators include albuterol, bitolterol, pirbuterol and terbutaline. Additionally, salmeterol is a long-acting β2-agonist that is intended to be used on a long-term basis, along with an anti-inflammatory medication, for controlling asthma. Those using salmeterol should take the medication on a daily basis, even if they are feeling fine, as it prevents symptoms. Although sporadically effective, bronchodilators are not typically useful in cases of severe asthma.
Many of the cells involved in causing airway inflammation are known to produce signaling molecules within the body called “leukotrienes.” Leukotrienes are responsible for causing the contraction of the airway smooth muscle, increasing leakage of fluid from blood vessels in the lung, and further promoting inflammation by attracting other inflammatory cells into the airways. Oral anti-leukotriene medications have been introduced to fight the inflammatory response typical of allergic disease. These drugs are used in the treatment of chronic asthma. Recent data demonstrates that prescribed anti-leukotriene medications can be beneficial for many patients with asthma, however, a significant number of patients do not respond to anti-leukotriene drugs.
The present invention relates to methods for determining the treatment outcome of drugs used to treat inflammatory conditions such as asthma. The methods rely on the identification of genes that are differentially expressed in samples obtained from patients and are associated with clinical responsiveness to the drug under study. The particular genes, herein referred to as “informative genes,” are identified in cells that have been induced to mimic the disease condition (e.g., asthma), or in tissue samples from patients diagnosed with asthma or other inflammatory diseases. Informative genes can be identified, for example, by determining the ratio of gene expression in induced versus uninduced cells and comparing the results between patients with variable drug sensitivity. Alternatively, informative genes can be identified based on the ratio of gene expression in disease versus normal tissue samples, or, in the case of informative genes used to identify drug responsiveness, informative genes can be identified by the ratio of gene expression in cells exposed to the drug versus cells not exposed to the drug, in subjects who qualify as responders versus non-responders to the drug. A ratio of 1.0 would indicate the gene is expressed at the same level in both samples. Ratios greater than one indicate increased expression over normal or uninduced cells, whereas ratios less than one indicate reduced expression relative to normal or uninduced cells.
A subset or all informative genes can be assayed for gene expression in order to generate an “expression profile” for responsive versus non-responsive patients. As used herein, an “expression profile” refers to the level or amount of gene expression of one or more informative genes in a given sample of cells at one or more time points. A “reference” expression profile is a profile of a particular set of informative genes under particular conditions such that the expression profile is characteristic of a particular condition. For example, a reference expression profile that quantitatively describes the expression of the informative genes listed in Tables 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B and 5A–5E can be used as a reference expression profile for drug treatment responsiveness. In one embodiment, expression profiles are comprised of the fifty informative genes that exhibit differential expression, and provide sufficient power to predict the responsiveness to the drug with high accuracy. Other embodiments can include, for example, expression profiles containing about 5 informative genes, about 25 informative genes, about 100 informative genes, or any number of genes in the range of about 5 to about 400 informative genes. The informative genes that are used in expression profiles can be genes that exhibit increased expression over normal cells or decreased expression versus normal cells. The particular set of informative genes used to create an expression profile can be, for example, the genes that exhibit the greatest degree of differential expression, or they can be any set of genes that exhibit some degree of differential expression and provide sufficient power to accurately predict the responsiveness to the drug. The genes selected are those that have been determined to be differentially expressed in either a disease, drug-responsiveness, or drug-sensitive cell relative to a normal cell and confer power to predict the response to the drug. By comparing tissue samples from patients with these reference expression profiles, the patient's susceptibility to a particular disease, drug-responsiveness, or drug-resistance can be determined.
The generation of an expression profile requires both a method for quantitating the expression from informative genes and a determination of the informative genes to be screened. The present invention describes screening specific changes in individuals that affect the expression levels of gene products in cells. As used herein, “gene products” are transcription or translation products that are derived from a specific gene locus. The “gene locus” includes coding sequences as well as regulatory, flanking and intron sequences. Expression profiles are descriptive of the level of gene products that result from informative genes present in cells. Methods are currently available to one of skill in the art to quickly determine the expression level of several gene products from a sample of cells. For example, short oligonucleotides complementary to mRNA products of several thousand genes can be chemically attached to a solid support, e.g., a “gene chip,” to create a “microarray.” Specific examples of gene chips include Hu95GeneFL (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.) and the 6800 human DNA gene chip (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.). Such microarrays can be used to determine the relative amount of mRNA molecules that can hybridize to the microarrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.). This hybridization assay allows for a rapid determination of gene expression in a cell sample. Alternatively, methods are known to one of skill in the art for a variety of immunoassays to detect protein gene expression products. Such methods can rely, for example, on conjugated antibodies specific for gene products of particular informative genes.
Informative genes can be identified, for example, in samples obtained from individuals identified through database screening to have a particular trait, e.g., glucocorticoid sensitivity (GC-S) or glucocorticoid resistance (GC-R). In addition, informative genes identified in cultured cells can be verified by obtaining expression profiles from samples of known asthma patients that are either responsive or non-responsive to a particular drug treatment. An example of a combination of obtaining samples from patients and searching particular databases for the genealogical and medical history of the individual from whom the sample was obtained is herein described for the genetically isolated population of Iceland.
The population of Iceland offers a unique opportunity to identify genetic elements associated with particular disorders. The unique opportunity is available due to at least three conditions: 1) the Icelandic population is genetically isolated; 2) detailed genealogical records are available; and 3) detailed medical records have been kept dating back to 1915. The identification of differentially expressed genes in responsive versus non-responsive patients would occur after an examination of a patient's genealogical past as well as the medical records of close relatives in addition to data obtained from samples derived from the individual.
An examination of genealogical and medical records identifies modern day individuals with a family history of exhibiting a particular trait. For example, individuals can be found that are asthmatic and that respond to a particular asthma drug treatment, and an examination of a genealogical database might confirm that indeed the individual's close relatives exhibit the same traits, on average, more than the rest of the population. Thus, a tentative conclusion can be drawn that the individual in question likely has genetic determinants that could be used to identify responsive and non-responsive patients. Samples obtained from this individual, combined with samples obtained from other such individuals, are genotyped by any of the methods described above in order to identify informative genes that can subsequently be used to generate reference expression profiles.
Informative genes can also be identified ex vivo in cells derived from patient samples. For example, a tissue sample can be obtained from a patient and cells derived from this sample can be cultured in vitro. The cells can be cultured in the presence or absence of cytokines, e.g., tumor necrosis factor alpha (hereinafter, “TNFα”) and interleukin 1-beta (hereinafter, “IL-1β”), or other mediators such as, for example, leukotriene receptor agonists, e.g., LTD4. As used herein, “mediator” refers to a molecular signal for a particular event. Cytokines are an example of a class of mediators that are low molecular weight, pharmacologically active proteins that are secreted by one cell for the purpose of altering either its own functions (autocrine effect) or those of adjacent cells (paracrine effect). In some instances, cytokines enter the circulation and have one or more of their effects systemically. Expression profiles of informative genes can be obtained from sample-derived cells in the presence and/or absence of cytokines or other mediators, and these profiles can be compared to reference expression profiles to determine sensitivity or resistance to drug treatment. Additionally, cells can be cultured in the presence or absence of the drug itself prior to obtaining the expression profile.
Once informative genes have been identified, polymorphic variants of informative genes can be determined and used in methods for detecting disorders in patient samples based on which polymorphic variant is present in the sample (e.g., through hybridization assays or immune detection assays using antibodies specific for gene products of particular polymorphic variants).
Alternatively, the approach described above can be used to verify the utility of informative genes identified in cultured cells. Once identified, informative genes could be verified as to their predictive ability in more genetically diverse populations, thus ensuring the utility of the predictive power of these informative genes in populations in addition to the genetically isolated population of, e.g., Iceland.
The “genetic isolation” of the Icelandic population implies a low degree of allelic variation among individuals. This circumstance reduces the background in screening for differences in a population. In “genetically diverse” populations, many differences appear between individuals that might contribute to the same trait. For example, an examination of individuals responsive for asthma drug treatment might produce a finite yet large number of genetic differences with respect to non-responsive individuals. However, in a genetically diverse population, a great majority of these genetic differences are “artifactual” or background “noise signals” detected because of the diversity of the population. For a genetically isolated population, fewer differences would be expected to be found between the two groups, providing a higher probability that the differences that are discovered are likely to be directly related to the trait in question, in this case, responsiveness to asthma drug treatment. Once determined in a genetically isolated environment, the utility of informative genes and expression profiles based on those informative genes can be verified for more general use in a genetically diverse population.
As elevated levels of both TNFα and IL-1β are characteristic of asthma and other inflammatory diseases (including, but not limited to, atopy (e.g., rhinitis, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, eczema), rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile chronic arthritis, psoriasis, IBD and sepsis), cells exhibiting elevated cellular levels of these cytokines can be used to determine drug efficacy for related inflammatory diseases. As used herein, “efficacy” describes a range of effectiveness from non-effective (non-responsive) to completely effective, and degrees between the two extremes. The present invention is directed in part to comparing gene expression profiles of activated peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells or neutrophils isolated from patients with asthma or related inflammatory conditions to gene expression profiles of activated control (non-asthmatic) PBM cells or neutrophils. As used herein, “activated” refers to treating cells with cytokines or other mediators of asthma or related inflammatory diseases. Such activation can be achieved by elevating levels of cytokines such as TNFα and IL-1β. Activated cells derived from patient samples can be used to screen for drug candidates as well as provide for sample and reference expression profiles useful in diagnosing asthma and other inflammatory diseases.
The cellular levels of TNFα and IL-1β can be increased by a variety of methods known in the art. For example, mammalian cells, such as PBM cells, neutrophils, synovial cells or airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells, grown in culture can be exposed to isolated and purified TNFα and IL-1β such that these cytokines are taken up by the cells (typically, exposure of about 4 hours of TNFα at a concentration of 5 ng/mL and IL-1β at a concentration of 1 ng/mL in culture will produce pro-asthma like symptoms in cultured cells). Other methods for expression of cytokines in cells grown in culture, e.g., by transfection of genes cloned into expression vectors, are known in the art.
TNF-related pathologies or diseases, as would be mimicked by the pro-inflammatory like conditions induced in the cells described herein, include, but are not limited to, inflammatory diseases or disorders, infections, neurodegenerative diseases, malignant pathologies, cachectic syndromes and certain forms of hepatitis.
Inflammatory diseases or disorders, include, but are not limited to, acute and chronic immune and autoimmune pathologies, such as, but not limited to, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA), psoriasis, graft versus host disease (GVHD), scleroderma, diabetes mellitus, allergy; asthma, acute or chronic immune disease associated with an allogenic transplantation, such as, but not limited to, renal transplantation, cardiac transplantation, bone marrow transplantation, liver transplantation, pancreatic transplantation, small intestine transplantation, lung transplantation and skin transplantation; chronic inflammatory pathologies such as, but not limited to, sarcoidosis, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's pathology or disease; vascular inflammatory pathologies, such as, but not limited to, disseminated intravascular coagulation, atherosclerosis, Kawasaki's pathology and vasculitis syndromes, such as, but not limited to, polyarteritis nodosa, Wegener's granulomatosis, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, giant cell arthritis and microscopic vasculitis of the kidneys; chronic active hepatitis; Sjögren's syndrome; psoriatic arthritis; enteropathic arthritis; reactive arthritis and arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease; and uveitis.
Infections include, but are not limited to, sepsis syndrome, cachexia (e.g., TNFα-mediated effects), circulatory collapse and shock resulting from acute or chronic bacterial infection, acute and chronic parasitic and/or infectious diseases, bacterial, viral or fungal, such as a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (including symptoms of cachexia, autoimmune disorders, AIDS dementia complex and infections).
Neurodegenerative diseases include, but are not limited to, demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and acute transverse myelitis.
Malignant pathologies are associated with TNFα-secreting tumors or other malignancies involving TNFα, such as, for example, leukemias (acute, chronic myelocytic, chronic lymphocytic and/or myelodyspastic syndrome) and lymphomas (Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, such as malignant lymphomas (Burkitt's lymphoma or Mycosis fungoides)).
Cachectic syndromes and other pathologies and diseases involving excess TNFα, include, but not limited to, cachexia of cancer, parasitic disease and heart failure.
Elevated levels of TNFα are also associated with certain types of hepatitis, including, but not limited to, alcohol-induced hepatitis and other forms of chronic hepatitis.
One of skill in the art will recognize that reagents necessary to utilize the methods described herein can be contained in a kit. Such reagents as described are either commercially available (e.g., buffered solutions, chemical reagents) or produced by methods known in the art (e.g., oligonucleotides, antibodies, ligands for detection). Thus, one of skill in the art would recognize that a kit can be produced containing in appropriate compartments, for example, all reagents, probes, and materials necessary for to allow for the practice of the methods described herein.
The invention will be further described with reference to the following non-limiting examples. The teachings of all the patents, patent applications and all other publications and websites cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.
EXEMPLIFICATION
Example 1 
Predictive Value of Expression Profiles in Human Patients.
Asthma is a common complex disease with a variable phenotype. While the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie asthma remain largely unknown, elevated levels of the pleiotropic cytokines, IL-1β and TNFα, have been implicated in the pathophysiology of asthma as well as in various other inflammatory disorders (Broide, D. et al., 1992, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 89:958–967; Arend, W., 2001, Arthritis Rheum. 45:101–106).
It has been widely accepted that diseases such as asthma that are common in the general population and have been demonstrated to have a strong, but complex, genetic component together with variable responsiveness to drugs, present ideal candidate disease targets for pharmacogenetic research. The latter holds great promise in optimization of individual specific therapy as well as providing new targets for drug development. Improved, preferably prophylactic, treatment of asthma patients is desired because the drugs now used are not effective in all patients, allow recurrence of the symptoms in a high percentage of patients, and sometimes have severe adverse side effects. The ability to analyze the expression level of thousands of genes in a single assay, using DNA microarrays, allows for a powerful screen of multiple molecular gene pathways, simultaneously, that may elucidate differential expression in genes encoding enzymes, kinases, ion channels, and other signaling molecules that determine individual's variation in response to drugs.
Accordingly, using high-density DNA microarray analysis, differences in mRNA expression of PBM cells freshly isolated from GC-S and GC-R asthmatics were identified. The mRNAs were examined at baseline (T0) and to the combined effects of IL-1β and TNFα. Moreover, in an attempt to further elucidate those genes that may contribute to responsiveness of GC, we examined the effects of GC treatment on altered gene expression in cells that were activated by IL-1β and TNFα. The rationale for using this strategy was based on two well-established concepts. First, the symptoms of asthma are mechanistically channeled through the actions of IL-1β and TNFα. Second, glucocorticoids act in asthmatics by altering the expression of genes that are modulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. The results provide new evidence demonstrating: 1) of 12,600 genes examined, 50 genes selected by algorithms based on the naïve Bayesian classifier predicted the correct GC-R phenotype of the 14 GC-R and 14 GC-S patients that it was trained on with 82% accuracy; 2) when a second cohort of 26 GC-R asthmatics was tested, the predictive accuracy of the classifier was 86%, and; 3) among the genes selected there were several cell signaling molecules, transcription factors and pro-inflammatory molecules potentially associated with regulation of GC responsiveness. This is the first demonstration using gene expression profiles in freshly isolated PBM cells that differentiate between GC-R and GC-S patients that provide sufficient power to predict response to glucocorticoids in asthmatics with high accuracy.
Methods and Materials
Patients. The patient population studied was selected from the private and outpatients clinics of practicing allergists at the Allergy/Immunology Division of the National University Hospital of Iceland. A total of 1185 patient records were screened for phenotypic information and analyzed with respect to the Icelandic Genealogy Database to determine the family connections of the patients. Patients carrying a diagnosis of asthma who were using inhaled glucocorticoid medications were evaluated further. Fifty-four patients age 18–70 years were initially randomly recruited to participate and were divided into two cohorts. The first cohort consisted of 14 GC-S and 14 GC-R patients, together with 14 control subjects who had no evidence of asthma or atopy and were not using inhaled GC or any other medications. Twenty-six additional patients were also collected and used as a second cohort for the predictive classifier. The study was subsequently expanded to include 96 patients (60 GC-S and 36 GC-R), of whom, 88 completed all 3 in vitro treatment conditions (baseline, IL-1β/TNFα in the absence and presence of GC). Each cohort was subsequently randomly split into two subcohorts of equal size. A random split was performed 10 times and the most informative genes that detected GC-R from GC-S patients in the training set were used as predictors for the independent patient set of equal size. Patients were allowed to use both short and long acting β2-adrenergic drugs as well as leukotriene antagonists. Medication doses of all drugs were kept unchanged for 2 weeks and the patients had to be off oral GC for minimum of 4 weeks prior to their donation of blood for the PBM cell expression studies. A single physician, who was blinded to the expression array studies, phenotyped all patients. Upon completion of physical examination, confirmation of drug response phenotypes and informed consent authorizing his/her participation in the study, the patients were asked to donate a blood sample for the study. No tests were performed in control subjects. Forty milliliters of EDTA blood was collected and peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells were isolated from the rest of the blood for the experimental studies described below.
Study Inclusion Criteria. The criteria the patients had to fulfill to enter the study, included the following:

    
    
        Asthma diagnosed by an allergist/pulmonologist. The approach used to diagnose asthma in Iceland concurs with that of the diagnostic asthma criteria outlined by the NHLB and the American Thoracic Society (National Institutes of Health. 1997. Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma: Expert Panel Report 2, July 1997, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. NIH Publication No. 97-4051; American Thoracic Society. Standardization of Spirometry, 1994 (update), Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care. Med. 1995, 152:1107–1136) and include any of the following measures:
        
            Patient having recurrent symptoms of cough and wheezing for more than 2 years and demonstrating clinical response to bronchodilator therapy (as measured by>15% increase in Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) following bronchodilator)
            Patient having reduced FEV1 (FEV1<80) at baseline prior to bronchodilator therapy and showing >15% improvement in FEV1 following bronchodilator therapy
            Patient having recurrent symptoms of cough and wheezing and on methacholine challenge test, performed in accordance to ATS guidelines, there occurs >20% drop in FEV1 at methacholine concentrations<8 mg/L
        
        
        Methacholine challenge test were obtained in patients with FEV1>70. In addition, skin tests to the 12 most common aeroallergens in Iceland and total IgE levels were obtained and history and clinical evidence of rhinitis were recorded. All patients were re-examined by the same allergist who determined the clinical response to GC.
    
    


Response to inhaled glucocorticoids. Patients were categorized as either glucocorticoid sensitive (GC-S) or glucocorticoid-resistant (GC-R). Any two or more combinations of the following criteria defined glucocorticoid response in GC-S patients (Barnes, P. et al. Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care. Med., 1998. 157:S1–S53):

    
    
        Good control of asthma symptoms (cough and wheezing) when taking inhaled GC in recommended therapeutic doses (up to 1000 mg of Fluticasone; up to 800 mg of Budesonide; or up to 1000 mg of Beclomethasone, which were the 3 inhaled GC drugs used by the patients).
        Improved exercise tolerance and/or fewer exacerbations following 8 or more weeks of therapeutic doses of inhaled GC.
        Improved peak flows and/or spirometry values after 8 or more weeks of inhaled GC.
        Improved quality of life/well being as judged by the patient response to a standard questionnaire, after 8 or more weeks of inhaled GC therapy.
    
    


GC-R patients did not experience improvement in the above measures when using inhaled GC in therapeutic doses. The GC-R patients had been tried on >2,000 mg of inhaled Fluticasone (or equivalent dose of Budesonide or Beclomethasone) per day. All GC-R patients studied had either moderate or severe resistance to GC therapy. The GC-R and GC-S patients were randomly split 10 times into two cohorts each, wherein one set was used for training and the other patient set was used to generate predictors for an independent set.
Study Exclusion Criteria. The study exclusion criteria are outlined below:

    
    
        Therapies, which could interfere with evaluation of efficacy or the incidence of adverse effects, including:
        
            Other investigational drugs
        
        
        Concurrent medication (other than β2-adrenergic agonist or anti-leukotriene drugs).
        Diseases or conditions that could interfere with the evaluation of efficacy or the incidence of adverse effects, including:
        
            Pregnancy or lactation
            Hypersensitivity or serious adverse experiences to asthma drugs in the past
            Aspirin sensitive asthma
            Occupational asthma
            Sensitivity to the study drug or its components
            Compliance to medication is of question
        
        
    
    


Patient protection measures/Informed consent procedures. The 96 asthmatic patients enrolled were randomly selected from the list of 1185 asthmatic patients who fulfilled the study criteria. The response- and participation rate of the patients exceeded 95%. All patients signed an informed consent, donated blood samples, and completed a questionnaire and all tests necessary for proper phenotyping. The study was approved by the Icelandic Data Protection Commission and the National Bioethics Committee. The Data Protection Commission of Iceland subsequently encrypted personal information about the patients and their family members (Gulcher, J. and Stefansson, K. Clin. Chem. Lab. Med. 1998, 36:523–527). All blood and DNA samples were also coded for protection of patient's privacy.
Assessment of gene microarray expression. Ninety-six asthma patients were recruited in accordance with the study inclusion criteria. GC responsiveness was measured by scoring functions taking into account both clinical and laboratory parameters as described above. PBM cells (PBMCs) were isolated by the standardized Ficoll method. PBMCs were counted, and stained with FITC-conjugated anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies (mAb), PE-conjugated anti-CD19 mAb, and FITC-conjugated anti-CD14 mAb and examined by flow cytometry to determine the relative contributions of each cell type. The cells were then divided into 3 treatment conditions (baseline, IL-1β/TNFα treatment and IL-1β/TNFα in the presence of GC treatment) with approximately 6 million cells per condition. Thereafter, multiple gene mRNA expression was examined in isolated PBMCs with gene microarray technology, using the human Hu95-A gene chip containing 12,600 DNA oligonucleotides (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.). In brief, cells were exposed for 4 hr to IL-1β (1 ng/mL) and TNFα (5 ng/mL) combined, or to media alone in the absence and presence of 1 hr pre-treatment with DEX (10−6 M), and maintained at 37° C. in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2/95% air in RMPI-1640 media. Following incubation of cells, total RNA used for the microarray expression analysis was extracted and purified using commercially available reagents recommended by the manufacturer. Total RNA was extracted using Trizol and purified with Qiagen RNAEASY spin columns (Qiagen GmbH2, Germany). Approximately 5 μg of RNA were used for first and second strand cDNA synthesis. After precipitation, cDNAs were transcribed to cRNAs by methods known in the art. The biotinylated cRNA was subsequently hybridized to the Affymetrix gene chips overnight according to the manufacturer (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.). Non-bound probes were removed by high-stringency washing. The hybridized chips were developed using a Streptavidin-PE complex and scanned. The scanned images were then analysed with Affymetrix software and the data was examined using commercially available software programs (Asher B. J. Mol. Graph Model. 2000, 18:79–82). AvDiff values were defined by the Affymetrix software output. Fold change is defined as the ratio of AvDiff values of RNA derived from PBMCs treated with cytokines over that of untreated PBMCs. Kinetic PCR was used to correlate the mRNA expression values from the Affymetrix gene chips for several genes.
Normalization of the expression data set. The raw expression data for all genes were normalized to the trimmed mean (98%) expression values of the chip and the normalized expression value for all chips were set at 500 (Hu, J. et al., 2000. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 919:9–15). The genes were also normalized to a set of 20 control (housekeeping) genes that were found to be stable during the various treatments of the samples. The analysis focused on all the genes that were expressed in the PBM cells, and, more specifically, on all genes that were significantly upregulated or downregulated by the in vitro cytokine stimulation and were subsequently reversed by glucocorticoid treatment. A predictive classifier was then applied to these genes. Three separate approaches were taken to search for predictive gene signals: 1) baseline expression values alone; 2) expression values in response to in vitro exposure to cytokines; and 3) expression values in response to cytokines in the presence of GC pre-treatment. To minimize the potential for selection bias, predictions were made for both an independent set and with the cross validation method (Ambroise, C. and McLachlan, G., 2002. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 99:6562–6566).
Classification of drug response phenotypes by naïve Bayesian classifier. A naïve Bayesian classifier (with non-informative prior) (Duda, R. and Hart, P., Pattern Classification and Scene Analysis. 1973, New York: John Wiley) was applied to test if the classification of drug response phenotypes can be achieved by expression values for a few informative genes. The classifier is trained by selecting those genes that are deemed relevant in distinguishing between phenotypes (Kellner, A. et al., Bayesian classification of DNA array expression data. Technical report, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, August, 2000). When a new case is presented to the classifier, the observed attribute value xg for gene g results in the odds that the presented case is glucocorticoid sensitive:




  
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Combining the probabilities of all genes in the classifier (under the “naïve” assumption of independence) gives the total odds:




  
    
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The attributes, namely AvDiff values or fold changes, were divided into two categories (low, high) by choosing a threshold value that optimally separates phenotypes in the training set for each gene. The probability, P(x|C), was taken as the fraction of training cases of phenotype C with attribute value x. To avoid singularities due to probabilities of zero, a Laplace estimator was used, i.e., an additional case of each phenotype was added to each attribute category.
The genes used for phenotype prediction were selected by their power to separate between the phenotypes using the average of




  
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over training cases with phenotypes GC-S and GC-R, respectively, as gene score. The n genes with the highest total score (i.e., sum of scores for phenotype GC-S and GC-R) were used in the classifier. As attributes, the fold change value between baseline and cytokine induction was used. To avoid spurious fold change values, only genes with AvgDiff values>70 for baseline and cytokine induction for all individuals were considered.

Prediction of an independent patient set using the weighted voting method described by Golub et al. The GCS and GC-R patient cohorts were each randomly split into two cohorts. The random split procedure was performed 10 times with separate analyses each time. A predictor for the first cohort using a weighted voting algorithm similar to that described previously (Golub, T. et al., 1999., Science, 286:531–537) by selecting genes that are deemed most relevant in distinguishing GC responders from non-responders. The weighted voting algorithm makes a weighted linear combination of relevant “informative” genes obtained in the training set to provide a classification scheme for new samples. A brief description of the algorithm follows. The mean (μ) and standard deviation (ε) for each of the two classes (Resistant and Sensitive) in the training set is first calculated. The Euclidean distance between the two classes is then calculated for each gene (x) such that EDX=√(μR−μS)2. The variance of each class is equal to the standard deviation within that class squared, VR,S=ε2. Next, the metric used to choose the most informative genes and for the calculation of weight, for each gene, is calculated as follows: Mx=(EDx2)/(VS+VR). To predict the class of a test sample Y, each gene X casts a vote for each class: WXR=MX√(Y−μR)2 and WXS=MX√(Y−μS)2. The final class of test Y is found by the lesser of (ΣWXR) and (ΣWXS). Thus, each gene has a vote based on its metric and the class to which its signal is closest. The class with the smallest vote at the end is the predicted class, e.g., the class the test sample is closest to using the Euclidean distance as the measure, is the predicted class. It was then determined whether an accurate prediction of drug response can be achieved by expression values of this limited set of genes for the independent cohort with no prior information using commercially available software as described previously (Shipp, M. et al., 2002. Nat. Med., 8:68–74; Golub, T. et al., 1999., Science, 286:531–537).
Prediction of an independent patient set using the k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm. The k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithm (Cover, T. et al., 1967. IT, 13:21–27) was also implemented to predict the class of a sample by calculating the Euclidean distance of the sample to the k “nearest neighbor” standardized samples in “expression” space in the training set. The class memberships of the neighbors are examined, and the new sample is assigned to the class showing the largest relative proportion among the neighbors after adjusting for the proportion of each class in the training set. The marker gene selection process was performed by feeding the k-NN algorithm only the features with higher correlation to the target class. To select genes for use in the predictor, all genes were examined individually and ranked on their ability to discriminate one class from the other using the information on that gene alone. For each gene and each class, all possible cutoff points on gene expression levels for that gene are considered to predict class membership either above or below that cutoff. Genes were scored on the basis of the best prediction point for that class. The score function is the negative logarithm of the p-value for a hypergeometric test (Fisher's exact test) of predicted versus actual class membership for this class versus all others.
Prediction using Leave One Out Cross Validation (LOOCV). In addition to vonfirmation in an independent set of patients, the genes that best separated GC responders from non-responders were selected and tested by cross-validation, wherein one patient was excluded from the data set and then a new predictor was generated from all the genes based on the remaining patients. The new predictor was then used to predict the excluded sample. The gene selection criteria was determined as described above and applied to expression values at baseline or in response to in vitro exposure to cytokines and GC.
Reagents. The cDNA Hu95 gene microarray chips and analysis system, including scanner and computer analysis software, were purchased from Affymetrix, Calif. The RPM-1640 medium was obtained from Gibco BRL (Gaithersburg, Md.). IL-1β and TNFα were obtained from R&D Systems (Minneapolis, Minn.). DEX was purchased from Sigma (St Louis, Mo.).
Results
Characteristics of patients. The patients enrolled were randomly selected from the available family clusters, which included 1185 patients, of whom over 500 were using inhaled glucocorticoids. Of the 96 patients recruited for the study, 60 were determined to be glucocorticoid sensitive and 36 were determined to be glucocorticoid resistant. Each group was split into two cohorts. The first cohort included 46 patients (training set), of whom 30 were GC-S and 18 were GC-R. The additional 46 patients were designated as the independent set, and also included 30 GC-S patients and 18 GC-R patients. The mean maintenance dose of inhaled glucocorticoids in the GC-R group was  ̃1,600 mg/day (range 1,000–2,000). In contrast, the GC-S patients required only intermittent or low-dose therapy (≦800 mg/day of Fluticasone or equivalent drug) of inhaled GC. Demographic information, lung function and methacholine challenge values together with atopy status are presented in Table 3. It should be noted that while the argument could be made that the asthma severity level was higher in the GC-R group, the lung function tests results were only slightly lower in the GC-R patients as compared to the GC-S patients. As shown in Table 3, the ratio of males/females and the atopy status were lower in the GC-R group, whereas the mean age was higher. Moreover, 54% GC-S and 31% of the GC-R patients were skin test positive to one or more aeroallergens. No differences were observed in the ratio of T cells, B cells and monocytes between the two groups.
Performance of the Bayesian classifier with gene score selected genes. This study examined whether GC-R asthmatic patients can be identified by specific gene expression profiles in white blood cells, which are different from those obtained in patients who are GC-responders, using a naïve Bayesian classifier. The classifier was trained to select genes that best predicted between the GC-R and GC-S patient groups using all genes from the Affymetrix 12,600 Hu95 gene chip that were defined as being present and had an AvgDiff expression values>70. The latter requirement reduced the total number of genes to 5,011. Thus, the classifier was trained on 5,011 genes with the goal of identifying genes that demonstrated differences between the two groups in either their AvgDiff or fold change expression values at baseline (BL) or in response to cytokine or GC treatment. Fold change mRNA expression values in response to cytokine treatment of 50 genes distinguished a randomly selected subgroup of 14 GC-R and 14 GC-S patients with 82% accuracy. Neither baseline expression values nor fold change expression in response to GC improved the classifier's ability to discriminate between the two patient groups. The prediction of the drug response phenotype was done by the “leave-one-out cross validation” (LOOCV) method, wherein each training case is left out in turn and predicted by a classifier trained on the remaining training cases only. The percentage of the left-out training cases that were predicted correctly is then taken as an estimate of the classifier's accuracy for previously unseen cases. As shown in FIG. 1, 12 of the 14 GC-S and 11 of the 14 GC-R patients are correctly predicted. Moreover, when the classifier was trained on all of the patients, its predictive accuracy of determining the correct GC-response phenotype using the LOOCV method was essentially unchanged or 81% (FIG. 2).
Since these 50 genes discriminated between the drug response phenotypes with high accuracy, they may potentially have stronger power to predict the drug response phenotype for individuals within the group itself. Thus, the ability of these genes to predict the drug response phenotype of a separate cohort of patients that was not used to train the classifier was examined. As shown in FIG. 3, when the classifier was trained on the 40 GC-S versus GC-R patients, and then used to predict the an independent patient set, the predictive accuracy obtained rose to 86%.
Fifty genes contributed to the predictive power that discriminated between GC responders and non-responders. These genes are categorically displayed in Tables 1, 2A and 2B. Data on 14 control subjects with unknown GC-response profile is also included. As shown, the pattern of mRNA expression in the control group was comparable to that of the GC-S patients. This is not surprising since up to 90% of asthma patients in general are GC-responders. The genes in each category (notably CAM/ECMs, cell signaling/metabolism molecules, transcription factors and ESTs) are identified by their GenBank accession numbers, and their respective magnitudes of mean fold change of altered mRNA expression in response to cytokines.
To ensure that the gene signals that most accurately discriminate between GC responders and non-responders were captured, the groups were expanded to 96 patients (60 GC-S and 36 GC-R) and the weighted voting and k-NN algorithms were applied to both randomly split cohorts of GC-S and GC-R patients with and without cross validation.
Apart from the genes in Tables 1, 2A and 2B, 15 additional genes shown in Table 4 increased the predictive accuracy for the independent set to 86%, and the accuracy of discriminating GC responders from non-responders amounted to 89% with cross validation in all patients.
Discussion
While drug treatment remains a mainstay of medicine, in most cases a given drug has little or no effect in the majority of patients, or unforeseen serious side effects occur. For the patient this represents a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation and, at the societal level, adverse drug reactions represent a leading cause of disease and death. Genetic variation often underlies poor response or side effects. Indeed, there already exist several examples of such correlation, including but not limited to patients variability in response to Dicumarol, Warfarin or Isoniazid due to polymorphisms in the Cyt P450 gene that confer rapid versus slow acetylating of these drugs. Given that these genetic variations may be reflected in differences in regulatory functions of these genes, variability in the mRNAs and/or protein expressions of these genes would be expected. Pharmacogenomics holds the promise that one may soon be able to profile variations between individuals' genetic makeup that accurately predict responses to drugs, addressing both efficacy and safety issues. In this connection, the ability to analyze the expression levels of thousands of genes in a single assay by DNA microarray technology provides a powerful screen of multiple molecular gene pathways, simultaneously. Thus, high-throughput gene array assay has the potential of identifying differential expression in genes encoding for various enzymes, kinases, ion channels, and other cell signaling molecules that determine individual's variation in response to drugs.
To address these issues, this study examined differences in gene expression in freshly isolated PBMCs isolated from GC-R and GC-S asthmatic patients, using high-density DNA microarray analysis. The results demonstrate that glucocorticoid sensitivity can be predicted with 86% accuracy.
It is widely accepted that glucocorticoids (GCs) are the most effective drugs available in asthma therapy. In individuals who are sensitive, inhaled GC has been shown to have a relatively low capacity to activate transcription within PBMCs at concentrations found in plasma and their action is thought to mainly occur within the lung. This finding is in agreement with the restricted systemic side effects at low or intermittent doses, whereas the relative abilities of GC to trans-repress transcription factor activities, such as AP-1 and NF-κB, in the airways is in agreement with their relative clinical efficacy. In contrast, GC-resistance has been defined by the lack of a response to a prolonged course of high dose (>1 mg/kg/day) oral glucocorticoid such as prednisone. Since most patients with asthma are being treated with inhaled GC, a new definition referring to GC-dependent/resistant asthma has emerged taking into account the inhalation route in the use of the drug (Leung, D. and Chrousos, G., Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 2000. 162:1–3). In light of these issues, a recommendation to define GC-resistant asthma as a condition where there is incomplete response to high doses of inhaled GC (i.e., >2,000 mg/day) was followed (Gagliardo, R. et al., Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 2000. 162:7–13). While clear separation between patients with high level of GC-dependent versus GC-resistant asthma is not always possible clinically, there is no doubt that both of these groups present a challenging clinical problem that is highly costly to the health care system. Sub-optimal responses to steroids often lead to prolonged courses of high-dose GC therapy accompanied by serious adverse effects together with persistent airway compromise. Patients with GC-resistant asthma present an ongoing inflammation of the airways despite persistent treatment with high doses of GC. This would be consistent with the high degree of airway hyperresponsiveness detected in our GC-R patients as reflected by the low methacholine concentration values in Table 3.
Given the pathobiologic processes involved in asthma, as a first approximation, it is reasonable to consider GC-insensitive and GC-dependent asthma as a part of the same pathogenic process. Thus, in view of potential heterogeneity and complexity of mechanisms contributing to GC-resistant/dependent asthma and its potential impact on the natural history of chronic asthma, it is noteworthy that no differences in the gene expression profiles of our GC-dependent study patients with moderate to severe GC-resistance, with respect to their GC resistant trait, were found.
In this study, a gene-scoring approach to identify genes that provide predictive power was used. As shown in Table 1, the 40 genes selected differed in their signal intensities of mRNA expression between the two groups and correlated strongly with the patients response phenotypes to inhaled glucocorticoids. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, when a Bayesian classifier was trained on a subset of 14 GC-S and 14 GC-R patients the predictive accuracy of the classifier to discriminate between these two patient groups was 82%. When the classifier was trained on 40, the accuracy of the classifier to predict the remaining independent patients was as high as 86% (FIG. 2). Thus, by almost doubling the number of patients that were used to train the classifier, the predictive power of the study increased further. The latter observation has two important implications: 1) it suggests that the predictive accuracy of the classifier might improve further if additional patients are included; and 2) the approach using the naïve Bayesian classifier when applied to the initial data set of 14 GC-S and 14 GC-R patients, provided sufficient power to predict gene expression profiles of GC-R and GC-S asthmatics with over 80% accuracy. It is noteworthy that among these genes are numerous cytokine/chemokine-related genes, transcription factors and cell signaling molecule genes (Tables 1, 2A and 2B). No doubt many of these genes may turn out to be critical regulatory genes of GC responsiveness independent of asthma per se.
Genes with predictive power in discriminating between glucocorticoid sensitive and glucocorticoid responsive asthmatics are listed in Table 1. The 40 genes that most accurately discriminate between glucocorticoid-responsive (GC-R) and glucocorticoid-sensitive (GC-S) asthmatics using fold change mRNA expression values following stimulation with cytokines are shown. The values expressed as mean±SEM for the groups. Also shown are comparable values in 14 non-asthmatic (control) subjects with unknown GC-response status. Expression profiles including these genes predict GC-R and GC-S patients with over 80% accuracy.







TABLE 1







Mean Fold change in RNA Expression of Informative Genes














GCR
GCS
Control




Name/
mean ±
mean/±
mean/±


Gene Category
GenBank
sem
sem
sem
PV















Transcription Factors







Zinc finger Protein
ZNF267/X78925
3.05 ± 0.45
5.41 ± 0.99
3.76 ± 0.30
0.94


267


Zinc finger Protein
ZNF189/AF025770
2.98 ± 0.38
4.12 ± 0.61
2.92 ± 0.44
0.88


189


Interferon-stimulated
ISGF-3/M97935
1.50 ± 0.80
4.38 ± 0.78
2.28 ± 0.59
0.82


gene factor 3


N-myc and STAT
Nmi/U32849
2.28 ± 0.25
1.41 ± 0.20
1.50 ± 0.09
0.81


interactor


Zinc finger helicase
ZFH/U91543
−1.39 ± 0.20  
−2.04 ± 0.11  
−1.25 ± 0.19  
0.79


Zinc finger Protein
ZNF145/AF060568
−3.23 ± 0.88  
−7.79 ± 2.59  
−5.94 ± 1.65  
0.71


145


Interferon-induced
IFP35/U72882
2.66 ± 0.39
3.56 ± 0.27
2.70 ± 0.30
0.69


leucine zipper protein


C terminal binding
CtBP/U37408
−1.36 ± 0.20  
−1.73 ± 0.30  
−1.43 ± 0.09  
0.64


protein


Cell signaling/metabolism


PDGF receptor beta-like
PRLTS/D37965
0.51 ± 0.41
2.99 ± 0.58
0.67 ± 0.48
0.94


tumor suppressor


Sterol carrier protein-X;
SCP-X; SCP-2/U11313
−2.44 ± 0.20  
−1.61 ± 0.35  
−1.86 ± 0.11  
0.94


sterol carrier


protein-2


G protein-linked
GPRG/L42324
4.14 ± 1.35
8.46 ± 3.50
3.85 ± 1.16
0.94


receptor gene


Nuclear Factor kappa
NFkB/M58603
4.10 ± 0.26
2.68 ± 0.25
3.12 ± 0.19
0.93


B subunit


Allograft
AIF1/U49392
−4.48 ± 0.49  
−2.24 ± 0.54  
−4.54 ± 0.50  
0.88


inflammatory factor 1


c-syn protooncogene
FYN/M14333
1.87 ± 0.09
1.55 ± 0.11
1.74 ± 0.04
0.86


Small nuclear
SNRPA/M60784
−1.75 ± 0.10  
−3.76 ± 1.34  
−1.80 ± 0.09  
0.86


ribonucleoprotein


polypeptide A


2′5′ Oligoadenylate
none/M87434
2.69 ± 0.35
4.52 ± 0.59
2.56 ± 0.49
0.81


synthetase


Rab GTPase
HSRANGAP1/X82260
2.42 ± 0.13
1.89 ± 0.25
1.94 ± 0.31
0.79


activating protein 1


Vasoactive intestinal
VIPR1/X77777
−3.76 ± 0.52  
−11.65 ± 2.37   
−6.24 ± 1.02  
0.79


peptide receptor 1


NADH-ubiquinone
NDUFV1/AF053070
−1.54 ± 0.10  
−1.89 ± 0.31  
−1.61 ± 0.16  
0.79


dehydrogenase 51 kDa


subunit


SH3BGR-like protein
SH3BGRL/AF042081
−2.04 ± 0.20  
−1.22 ± 0.29  
−1.88 ± 0.09  
0.75


SRC Kinase
SKAP55/Y11215
−6.59 ± 0.48  
−12.60 ± 2.29   
−13.36 ± 5.40   
0.71


associated


phosphoprotein 55K


Retinal short-chain
retSDR1/AF061741
−0.61 ± 0.36  
0.24 ± 0.40
0.33 ± 0.70
0.71


dehydrogenase/reductase


NAD (H)-specific
none/Z68907
−1.58 ± 0.05  
−1.67 ± 0.30  
−1.60 ± 0.06  
0.71


isocitrate


dehydrogenase g


Lysosome-associated
DCLAMP/AB013924
70.09 ± 11.70
128.82 ± 24.64 
96.54 ± 13.97
0.69


membrane


glycoprotein


Aryl carbon receptor
AHR/L19872
−1.96 ± 0.38  
−0.82 ± 0.37  
−0.24 ± 0.45  
0.69


Ser/Thr kinase 10
lok/AB013924
−1.49 ± 0.06  
−1.47 ± 0.23  
−1.60 ± 0.08  
0.64


Docking protein 2
DOK2/AF034970
−2.08 ± 0.09  
−2.24 ± 0.54  
−2.55 ± 0.16  
0.64


Ecto-5-prime-
CD73/X55740
−2.38 ± 0.20  
−4.22 ± 0.89  
−3.16 ± 0.94  
0.64


nucleotidase


Signal-induced
SIPA1/AB005666
−1.68 ± 0.29  
−2.76 ± 0.51  
−1.85 ± 0.15  
0.57


proliferation-associated


gene 1


Phospholipid
hMmTRA 1b/AB006746
3.80 ± 0.52
6.66 ± 0.82
3.94 ± 0.44
0.56


Scramblease


Misc


Fc fragment of
FCRER1A/X06948
−17.64 ± 1.55   
−10.44 ± 2.36   
−16.43 ± 4.08   
0.94


IgEalpha


Histone stem-loop
SLBP/U75679
1.07 ± 0.17
1.21 ± 0.31
0.69 ± 0.36
0.94


binding protein


Interferon induced
IFI56/M24594
10.63 ± 2.73 
23.63 ± 3.73 
10.09 ± 2.24 
0.88


protein 56


Neuropathy target
NTE/AJ004832
−1.42 ± 0.25  
−2.34 ± 0.13  
−1.37 ± 0.24  
0.86


esterase


Interferon induced
IFP41/L22342
1.32 ± 1.32
2.38 ± 0.23
1.44 ± 0.34
0.75


protein 41


Poly A binding
PAPB2/AF026029
−1.36 ± 0.06  
−2.02 ± 0.24  
0.68 ± 0.31
0.71


protein II


Galectin 2
GaI2/AL022315
−56.71 ± 7.96   
−23.46 ± 5.90   
−44.87 ± 8.65 
0.69


Actin related protein
ARPC2/U50531
−2.79 ± 0.65
−7.05 ± 1.37
−3.25 ± 1.36
0.57


complex 2/3 subunit 2


CD1c Thymocyte
CD1c/M28827
−5.11 ± 0.62  
−3.56 ± 0.34  
−4.73 ± 0.74  
0.56


antigen


cDNA


clone 24538 mRNA
none/AF055030
0.84 ± 0.28
1.52 ± 0.24
1.42 ± 0.11
0.94









Tables 2A and 2B include 45 genes that were either upregulated or downregulated by IL-1β/TNFα therapy and were reversed, at least in part, by pre-treatment with GC, and that most accurately predicted glucocorticoid sensitivity using expression values generated following treatment with cytokines. Table 2A shows expression levels in cells treated with IL-1β/TNFα in the presence of DEX and Table 2B shows expression levels of cells treated with IL-1β/TNFα alone.







TABLE 2A







Genes upregulated by IL-1β/TNFα and repressed by DEX


IL1/TNFα treatment: With DEX













GCR
GCS




Name/
mean ±
mean/±


Gene Category
GenBank
sem
sem
P-value














Inflammatory cell regulators






Interferon-inducible 56 Kd
IFI56/
−816 ± 91
−1920 ± 240 
<0.0001



M24594


Interleukin 1β
IL1B/
−3792 ± 501
  1605 ± 1339
0



M15330


Interferon gamma treatment inducible
IFNIND/
−12235 ± 955 
−5432 ± 1553
0


mRNA
M26683


CD6 antigen
CD6/
−1128 ± 192
   58 ± 265
0.001



X60992


Interferon regulatory factor 7B
IRF7/
−908 ± 91
−876 ± 175
0.863



U53831


TNFα receptor associated
EB16/
−2061 ± 185
−1419 ± 109 
0.0133


factor 1
U19261


TNFα receptor
CD120b/
−3321 ± 520
−1283 ± 407 
0.006



M32315


TNFα receptor superfamily
WSL/
−3321 ± 506
−1591 ± 402 
0.0185



Y09392


Leukocyte surface aminopeptidase N
CD13/
 −983 ± 122
−247 ± 106
0



M22324


Cytokine (GRO-γ)
SCYB3/
−2135 ± 345
−672 ± 59 
0.001



M36821


Interferon-inducible peptide (6–16) gene
16-jun/
−1233 ± 151
−2094 ± 424 
0.041



U22970


Cytokine (GRO-β)
SCYB2/
−2934 ± 374
−1116 ± 384 
0.003



M36820


Interferon-β-2a
IL6/
−7784 ± 683
−4493 ± 788 
0.002



X04430


OX40 cell surface antigen
OX40/
 −600 ± 103
−230 ± 47 
0



S76792


Monocyte/macrophage lg-related receptor
MIR10/
−626 ± 73
−238 ± 57 
0



AF004231


Small inducible cytokine subfamily C2
SCYC2/
−417 ± 80
−118 ± 76 
0.0156



D63789


Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist
IL1RA/
−10750 ± 966 
−5445 ± 1457
0.004



X52015


Urokinase-type plasminogen receptor
CD87/
−3834 ± 530
−1504 ± 272 
0.002



U09937


Activation mRNA
Act-2/
−4202 ± 494
−1333 ± 572 
0.001



J04130


Macrophage migration inhibitory factor
MIF/
−1222 ± 383
−170 ± 238
0.0365



L19686


Monocyte secretory protein
JE/
−7380 ± 860
−4302 ± 960 
0.0331



M28225


Interferon stimulated gene HEM45
HEM45/
−1600 ± 367
−424 ± 368
0.039



U88964


Membrane glycoprotein 4F2 antigen heavy
CD98/
 −687 ± 115
−301 ± 124
0.0374


chain
J02939


Interferon induced protein p78
p78/
−3547 ± 345
−1491 ± 346 
0



M33882


CD44 isoform RC
CD44/
−1886 ± 170
−1019 ± 134 
0.001



AF098641


Interferon-induced 17-kDa/15-kDa protein
ISG15/
−5244 ± 677
−2526 ± 611 
0.008



M13755


Cell Signaling/Metabolism


Plasminogen activator-inhibitor 2
PAI-2/
−7538 ± 623
−2683 ± 648 
<0.0001



Y00630


PROS-27
PROS-27/
−2771 ± 318
−361 ± 402
0



X59417


Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A
p21/
−2463 ± 315
−885 ± 151
0



U03106


Lymphocyte G0/G1 switch gene
G0S2/
−3788 ± 420
−1657 ± 275 
0



M69199


Hpast
HPAST/
−1532 ± 187
−675 ± 139
0.002



AF001434


Apoptosis inhibitor/AP homolog B
AP11/
 −722 ± 315
−342 ± 151
0.002


(MIHB)
U37547


Insulin induced protein 1
INSIG1/
−2778 ± 273
−1797 ± 204 
0.0117



U96876


pim-1 oncogene
pim-1/
−1937 ± 245
−1197 ± 152 
0.0205



M16750


Cyclic AMP-responsive element modulator
CREM/
−2225 ± 238
−1435 ± 149 
0.0207



S68134


Glucose transporter-like protein-lll
GLUT3/
−3564 ± 801
−1422 ± 512 
0.0366



M20681


Human cyclooxygenase-2
hCox-2/
−1731 ± 222
−2333 ± 389 
0.167



U04636


CAM/ECM molecules


HB14
CD83/
−4434 ± 73 
−2492 ± 78 
0



Z11697


Adhesion molecule ninjurin
NINJ1/
−1977 ± 315
−472 ± 249
0.001



U91512


Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1
TIMP1/
−4723 ± 500
−2237 ± 483 
0.002



D11139


Elastase specific proteinase inhibitor
ELAFIN/
−1448 ± 462
−292 ± 199
0.0449



L10343


Transcription Factors


Nef-associated factor 1β
Naf1beta/
−1523 ± 467
  126 ± 512
0.0268



AJ011896


Thyroid receptor interactor
TRIP 14/
−635 ± 67
−798 ± 83 
0.1357



L40387


Basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor
Musculin/
−1867 ± 177
−1209 ± 116 
0.006



AF087036


p50-NFκβ
P50-NF-kB/
 −890 ± 174
−321 ± 105
0.0122



S76638
















TABLE 2B







Genes upregulated by IL-1/TNF-α and repressed by DEX


IL1/TNFα treatment: Without DEX













GCR
GCS




Name/
mean ±
mean/±


Gene Category
GenBank
sem
sem
P-value














Inflammatory cell regulators






Interferon-inducible 56 Kd
IFI56/
1283 ± 215
3370 ± 372
<0.0001



M24594


Interleukin 1β
IL1B/
 9905 ± 1021
 595 ± 1430
<0.0001



M15330


Interferon gamma treatment inducible
IFNIND/
17349 ± 784 
11063 ± 998 
<0.0001


mRNA
M26683


CD6 antigen
CD6/
2472 ± 179
 806 ± 195
<0.0001



X60992


Interferon regulatory factor 7B
IRF7/
1413 ± 129
3074 ± 187
<0.0001



U53831


TNFα receptor associated factor 1
EB16/
5191 ± 188
3643 ± 267
0



U19261


TNFα receptor
CD120b/
6742 ± 513
3453 ± 877
0



M32315


TNFα receptor superfamily
WSL/
6560 ± 462
3452 ± 626
0



Y09392


Leukocyte surface aminopeptidase N
CD13/
2988 ± 304
1523 ± 184
0.001



M22324


Cytokine (GRO-γ)
SCYB3/
3228 ± 392
1431 ± 284
0.001



M36821


Interferon-inducible peptide (6–16) gene
16-jun/
1870 ± 317
3656 ± 362
0.002



U22970


Cytokine (GRO-β)
SCYB2/
5431 ± 653
2267 ± 509
0.002



M36820


Interferon-β-2a
IL6/
12870 ± 630 
9257 ± 863
0.002



X04430


OX40 cell surface antigen
OX40/
1157 ± 88 
588 ± 28
0.002



S76792


Monocyte/macrophage lg-related receptor
MIR10/
1492 ± 147
 780 ± 157
0.003



AF004231


Small inducible cytokine subfamily C2
SCYC2/
 483 ± 115
 28 ± 90
0.006



D63789


Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist
IL1RA/
13395 ± 1481
 8202 ± 1598
0.0168



X52015


Urokinase-type plasminogen receptor
CD87/
4180 ± 663
2054 ± 414
0.0197



U09937


Activation mRNA
Act-2/
 8697 ± 1013
 3900 ± 1860
0.026



J04130


Macrophage migration inhibitory factor
MIF/
2250 ± 705
 296 ± 356
0.0271



L19686


Monocyte secretory protein
JE/
9970 ± 999
6785 ± 534
0.0369



M28225


Interferon stimulated gene HEM45
HEM45/
6801 ± 713
4768 ± 553
0.0474



U88964


Membrane glycoprotein 4F2 antigen heavy
CD98/
3073 ± 194
2472 ± 243
0.0662


chain
J02939


Interferon induced protein p78
p78/
7155 ± 826
5241 ± 503
0.0777



M33882


CD44 isoform RC
CD44/
3651 ± 264
3121 ± 195
0.0962



AF098641


Interferon-induced 17-kDa/15-kDa protein
ISG15/
 8821 ± 1574
6128 ± 993
0.1801



M13755


Cell Signaling/Metabolism


Plasminogen activator-inhibitor 2
PAI-2/
9427 ± 717
5832 ± 531
0.001



Y00630


PROS-27
PROS-27/
5853 ± 316
3557 ± 443
0



X59417


Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A
p21/
3544 ± 492
1975 ± 261
0.0123



U03106


Lymphocyte G0/G1 switch gene
G0S2/
1403 ± 737
1347 ± 548
0.9539



M69199


Hpast
HPAST/
2370 ± 263
1545 ± 272
0.0418



AF001434


Apoptosis inhibitor/AP homolog B
AP11/
1826 ± 137
1885 ± 150
0.7754


(MIHB)
U37547


Insulin induced protein 1
INSIG1/
4414 ± 353
3201 ± 285
0.0175



U96876


pim-1 oncogene
pim-1/
2347 ± 411
1947 ± 511
0.5462



M16750


Cyclic AMP-responsive element modulator
CREM/
4875 ± 216
4613 ± 411
0.541



S68134


Glucose transporter-like protein-lll
GLUT3/
5396 ± 930
2914 ± 713
0.0476



M20681


Human cyclooxygenase-2
hCox-2/
1735 ± 302
2683 ± 513
0.1195



U04636


CAM/ECM molecules


HB14
CD83/
5991 ± 138
2892 ± 150
<0.0001



Z11697


Adhesion molecule ninjurin
NINJ1/
4607 ± 401
2359 ± 264
0



U91512


Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1
TIMP1/
 9451 ± 1006
5574 ± 611
0.005



D11139


Elastase specific proteinase inhibitor
ELAFIN/
2744 ± 768
 577 ± 174
0.0166



L10343


Transcription Factors


Nef-associated factor 1β
Naf1beta/
6890 ± 505
3412 ± 314
<0.0001



AJ011896


Thyroid receptor interactor
TRIP14/
1046 ± 130
1488 ± 167
0.0452



L40387


Basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor
Musculin/
2832 ± 297
2145 ± 109
0.0489



AF087036


p50-NFκβ
P50-NF-kB/
2394 ± 169
1995 ± 206
0.1487



S76638









As shown in Table 3, the ratio of males/females and the atopy status were lower in the GC-R group, whereas the mean age was higher. While several studies have reported association between the X chromosome and the asthma phenotype (Kauppi P. et al., Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 2000. 10:788–92; Heinzmann A. et al., Hum. Mol. Genet. 2000. 9:549–59; Ahmed S. et al., Exp. Clin. Immunogenet. 2000. 17:18–22), extended epidemiological studies are needed to confirm if such an association exists between the GC-R phenotype and asthma. Likewise, 54% of the GC-S patients in this study were skin test positive to one or more aeroallergens compared to 31% of the GC-R patients. In addition, the average total IgE levels were higher in the GC-S group. About 70% of patients in some European countries and areas of the United States are atopic (Eggleston P. and Bush R., J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 2001 107:S403–5) compared to about 50% of asthmatics in Iceland, as determined by positive skin tests or elevated IgE levels (The European Community Respiratory Health Survey Group. Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 1997. 156:1773–1780). Whether atopic asthmatic patients are less likely to have GC-R asthma compared to non-atopic patients remains to be determined. While interference from these variables on the results cannot be excluded, the predictive power of the patient's age, sex or atopy status was lower (and not statistically significant) when compared to the power developed from the genes under study.
These results provide the basis for unraveling the mechanisms that contribute to the development of GC-resistance, and can allow for the development of new therapeutic approaches. For example, one of skill in the art can perform linkage studies on patients for GC-R and GC-S clusters using the Icelandic Genealogy Database. By linking patients with GC-R and GC-S asthma into large family pedigrees based on clinical measures of GC-responsiveness, a genome-wide linkage analysis can be performed. Secondly, by searching for mRNAs expression profiles that predict GC-R versus GC-S asthma in a larger cohort of patients using DNA array technology, one of skill in the art can categorize patients with unknown GC profile into GC-S and GC-R patients with high accuracy independent of whether the patient has been taking glucocorticoids or whether the clinical response has been determined based on the expression profile alone (e.g., if similar to the expression profiling of responders versus non-responders, respectively).
Table 3. Demographic, lung function, metacholine challenge and total IgE values in glucocorticoid-sensitive (GC-S) and GC-resistant(R) patients. Values expressed are mean+/−SE for the groups.










TABLE 3





Characteristics
GC-S
<Asthma>
GC-R







n
61

35


Mean age (yr)
43 ± 16

54 ± 19


Sex ratio (M/F)
30/70

20/80


Mean dose GC
450 (200–800)

1,610 (1,000–2000)


(μg/day)


FVC (% predicted)
84 ± 19

75 ± 15


liters
3.8 ± 1.0

2.2 ± 0.8


FEV1 (% predicted)
82 ± 20

81 ± 8 


liters
3.2 ± 1.0

3.3 ± 0.3


FEV1/FVC ratio
70 ± 10

72 ± 12


Positive skin tests
54%

31%


MCh challenge (mg/L)
3.4 ± 1.2

0.7 ± 1.1


Total IgE (IU/L)
78

38









To ensure that the gene signals that most accurately discriminate GC responders from non-responders are captured, the study was expanded to include 96 patients (60 GC-S and 36 GC-R) and randomly split cohorts of GC-S and GC-R patients with and without cross validation were analyzed.
The results demonstrate that apart from genes listed in Tables 1, 2A and 2B, 15 additional genes, listed in Table 4A, were identified with the split cohort method and 4 genes, listed in Table 4B, by the cross validation method, which increased the predictive accuracy to 86% and 89% for the independent set and cross validation method, respectively. These genes play a key role in immune function, signal transduction processes and in apoptosis, all of which are highly relevant functions to the mechanisms of glucocorticoid responsiveness in asthma.











TABLE 4A





Induction






Independent
Mean

Mean


GenBank
Resistant
Std Dev
Sensitive
Std Dev







Z11697
1.8724782
0.33308947
1.58067 
0.37548256


AI950382
1.3549194
0.22042978
1.030298 
0.2444671 


L78440
1.5259613
0.30956995
1.0863237
0.34783307


U19261
1.7525064
0.4171106 
1.3473015
0.3836438 


M80244
1.9161059
0.56795007
1.1932454
0.40928963


AB023205
2.1412642
0.9683697 
1.55956 
0.7753593 


M58603
1.6857204
0.40931362
1.2413435
0.41113004


L05424
1.8005482
0.49951264
1.3440721
0.3783  


R38263
1.4709008
0.3948905 
1.2489537
0.32604253


L03411
1.2816724
0.18822539
1.1264083
0.25873253


D63789
1.6949914
0.78736067
1.2824732
0.57320374


X52425
1.4263631
0.3121133 
1.1701844
0.32265002


L11329
1.6712576
0.45524144
1.2668103
0.39379898


U48807
2.149289 
1.1046098 
1.4393674
0.74329394


D79991
1.2781677
0.26072037
1.1245298
0.2646311 




















TABLE 4B





Induction Cross






Validation
Mean

Mean


GenBank
Resistant
StdDev
Sensitive
StdDev



















AB009010
0.7325509
0.3312249
1.4231814
0.5362498


L78440
1.575848
0.33741876
1.1237841
0.30317423


U43185
2.1323266
0.40701827
1.4901624
0.52416813


AB020630
1.6486217
0.2412822
1.2882963
0.31817988









Example 2 
Apart from genes that demonstrated predictive accuracy in the around 80%, a large number of genes were found to be differentially expressed between the two patient groups. Of those, the genes listed in Tables 5A–E contributed to the predictive signal that was found. These genes were identified by applying the biological approach of the experimental set up (i.e., genes upregulated or downregulated by IL-1β/TNFα and reversed, at least in part by GC). The ultimate value of the genes in Tables 5A–5E with respect to glucocorticoid prediction will be known when these genes have been validated in a larger cohort of patients.










TABLE 5A









BASELINE EXPRESSION VALUES












GC resistant
GC sensitive




(n = 30)
(n = 66)












Gene (Genbank, Map)
MEAN
SEM
MEAN
SEM
P value















Perforin 1 (M28393,
6085.97
417.13412
5250.672
208.2762
0.026


10q22)


Tumor necrosis factor
4043.2695
172.13469
3606.906
126.01189
0.047


receptor 2 (75 kD)


(M32315, 1p36.3–p36.2)


LPS-induced TNF-alpha
4149.5264
339.81314
3394.3865
152.35988
0.018


factor (AF010312,


16p13.3–p12)


Defensin (L12691, 8)
15084.323
1903.8826
10559.057
1213.1726
0.045


KIAA0542 protein
4974.1274
1201.7789
8108.8516
872.0196
0.004


(AB011114, 22q12.2)


Beta 2-microglobulin
14026.682
3886.1045
28540.09
3071.3684
0.023


(S82297, 15q21–q22.2)


Granzyme B precursor
3153.3257
372.53757
2298.1396
185.16092
0.01


(M57888, 14q11.2)


Thymosin, beta 4
21235.469
2459.579
28695.383
2114.4946
0.042


(M17733, Xq21.3–q22)


HLA class I heavy chain
23571.922
2747.8547
31607.03
2214.8435
0.042


(X58536, 6p21.3)


Elongation factor EF-1-
18835.99
3337.1677
30409.002
2609.5315
0.034


alpha


(J04617, 6q14)


EST (AI526078,
18714.736
1704.359
24808.363
1547.6501
0.043


20q13.3)


CD98 (M80244,
798.8602
93.80168
642.308
47.76093
ns**


16q24.3)


Nuclear factor kappa-B
1118.8152
131.4039
1171.212
94.15151
ns**


DNA


binding subunit


(M58603, 4q24)


Signal transducer and
2115.2861
177.11328
2072.295
94.97464
ns**


activator of transcription 4


(L78440, 2q32.2–q32.3)


Nef-associated factor 1
2744.2788
242.81891
2588.429
162.65399
ns**


(AJ011896, 5q32–q33.1)


CD44 antigen (L05424,
1856.1018
95.87001
1778.6385
104.54533
ns**


11p13)


(2′–5′)oligoadenylate
337.42038
18.820648
383.4079
54.559353
ns**


synthetase (AJ225089,


12q24.2)


Interferon regulatory
820.22296
40.891983
803.94714
37.65985
ns**


factor


7 isoform a (U53831,


11p15.5)


Interferon-inducible
692.43274
53.86486
769.75037
61.446373
ns**


protein p78 (M33882,


21q22.3)


interferon inducible 1-8U
10073.882
1202.4331
10348.615
847.59143
ns**


gene (X57352, 11)


Interferon stimulated
2559.649
120.11462
2733.2332
64.77266
ns**


gene


(20 kD) (U88964, 15q26)


Interferon-stimulated
2001.0354
107.30703
2131.9282
121.11149
ns**


protein,


15 kDa (m13755, 1)


CD44 isoform RC
1635.3041
92.87121
1546.3922
101.99627
ns**


(AF098641, 11p13)


CD83 antigen (Z11697,
4003.7795
509.4784
2995.624
343.3428
ns**


6p23)


Interferon stimulatable
1222.6351
87.984886
1198.6647
74.25269
ns**


response element


(U22970, 1p36)


TNF receptor-associated
1024.6047
76.8937
970.14984
68.22721
ns**


factor 1 (U19621, 9q33–q34)


Adhesion molecule
952.9832
108.31899
819.72675
72.15633
ns**


ninjurin 1 (U01512,


9q22)


TNF receptor-associated
602.10754
55.548782
552.6948
36.47862
ns**


factor 1 (U19261, 9q33–q34)


Transcription factor
1047.2883
84.6747
1043.8727
51.559406
ns**


ISGF-3


(M97936, 2q32.2)


interleukin-7 receptor
1293.5005
221.00233
1776.9689
196.31573
ns**


(AF043129, 5p13)


Interleukin 8
9098.902
881.07416
7048.5723
759.5493
ns**


(M28130, 4q13–q21)


GRO2 oncogene
3172.951
401.67627
2370.0527
298.47812
ns**


(M36820, 4q21)


Interferon-induced
242.70598
46.875942
299.46494
47.465668
ns**


protein


with tetratricopeptide


repeats 1 M24594,


10q25–q26)


interferon-induced
335.2246
98.50067
348.74557
38.996685
ns**


protein


with tetratricopeptide


repeats 4 (AF026939,


10q24)


Macrophage colony
3976.1692
148.23972
4297.3677
118.11726
ns**


stimulating factor 1


(M37435, 1p21–p13)


Ras inhibitor
103.64886
51.292507
117.76897
47.070602
ns**


(M37190, 20)


Small inducible cytokine
176.61205
47.855843
356.2777
170.02516
ns**


A2


(M28225, 17q11.2–q21.2)


Cyclooxygenase-2
1282.8784
245.26799
976.03503
140.18762
ns**


(U04636, 1q25.2–q25.3)


Transforming growth
665.96454
39.320732
684.6929
31.560013
ns**


factor,


beta receptor II (70–80 kD)


(D50683, 3p22)


Cyclic AMP-responsive
571.4737
76.16772
583.9707
86.563515
ns**


element modulator


beta isoform


(S68134, 10p12.2–p11.1)


Interleukin 1 receptor
2650.151
386.6683
2049.2832
280.7141
ns**


antagonist (X52015,


2q14.2)


Interleukin 6 (X04430,
218.93637
79.35666
372.81815
181.83186
ns**


7p21)


Nef-associated factor 1
1628.6475
86.34723
1530.4146
92.62164
ns**


(AJ011896, 5q32–q33.1)


Small inducible cytokine
121.53884
8.26777
149.0766
20.418268
ns**


A7


(X72308, 17q11.2–q12)


Small inducible cytokine
227.42393
82.810646
527.6503
265.94244
ns**


A2


(M26683, 17q11.2–q21.1)


















TABLE 5B









IL-1/TNF-INDUCED EXPRESSION VALUES











GC resistant
GC sensitive




(n = 30)
(n = 66)












Gene
MEAN
SEM
MEAN
SEM
P value















Perforin 1
5614.334
394.1253
4072.83
214.3326
<0.0001


Tumor necrosis factor
10050.87
586.6837
7283.63
440.3941
0.0004


receptor 2 (75 kD)


(M32315, 1p36.3–p36.2)


LPS-induced TNF-alpha
5459.401
351.0782
4387.12
170.5484
0.001


factor (AF010312,


16p13.3–p12)


Defensin (L12691, 8)
8846.362
1376.016
4290.63
844.5093
0.009


KIAA0542 protein
2017.074
946.1356
8857.14
1124.027
0.01


(AB01114, 22q12.2)


Beta 2-microglobulin
6333.009
3069.832
28707
3191.635
0.01


(S82297, 15q21–q22.2)


Granzyme B precursor
1746.806
232.9423
957.865
111.5382
0.016


(m57888, 14q11.2)


Thymosin, beta 4
18450.77
2309.75
31440.1
2229.507
0.02


(m17733, Xq21.3–q22)


HLA class I heavy chain
17262.1
2654.092
34519.5
2601.363
0.02


(X58536, 6p21.3)


Elongation factor EF-1-alpha
15154.59
2826.921
35443.6
2869.217
0.03


(J04617, 6q14)


EST (AI526078, 20q13.3)
15054.68
1528.611
25434.4
1606.93
0.03


CD98 (M80244, 16q24.3)
5682.373
365.3485
4127.05
234.5741
<0.0001


Nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
7222.51
338.3345
5655.56
215.4376
<0.0001


binding subunit


(M58603, 4q24)


Signal transducer and
7142.53
347.9236
5567.9
216.9498
<0.0001


activator of transcription 4


(178440, 2q32.2–q32.3)


Nef-associated factor 1
10042.95
525.3091
8829.79
312.5778
<0.0001


(AJ011896, 5q32.q33.1)


CD44 antigen (L05424,
6209.805
263.4941
5019.8
163.5661
<0.0001


11p13)


(2′–5′)oligoadenylate
3611.673
259.3965
1756.89
225.7237
<0.0001


synthetase


(AJ225089, 12q24.2)


Interferon regulatory factor
2841.19
237.6626
1681.36
160.3967
<0.0001


7 isoform a (U53831,


11p15.5)


Interferon-inducible protein
4426.94
533.6766
1780.97
325.196
<0.0001


p78


(M33882, 21q22.3)


interferon inducible 1-8U
5763.147
1332.153
4255.33
398.2605
<0.0001


gene


(X57352, 11)


Interferon stimulated gene
6082.724
624.8853
4290.37
330.7253
<0.0001


(20 kD)


(U88964, 15q26)


Interferon-stimulated protein,
10922.46
1395.841
4956.73
622.4254
<0.0001


15 kDa (M13755, 1)


CD44 isoform RC (AF09861,
5146.13
287.7974
3879.53
144.6777
<0.0001


11p13)


CD83 antigen (Z11697,
9242.953
350.8769
7918.24
339.6289
<0.0001


6p23)


Interferon stimulatable
3203.982
495.8736
1631.66
281.1401
0.0001


response


element (U22970, 1p36)


TNF receptor-associated
5005.59
208.4321
4098.21
179.4619
0.0002


factor 1


(U19261, 9q33–q34)


Adhesion molecule ninjurin 1
3715.181
268.8716
3157.01
122.5063
0.0003


(U91512, 9q22)


TNF receptor-associated
2364.498
96.09024
2096.81
78.13522
0.0007


factor 1


(U19261, 9q33–q34)


Transcription factor ISGF-3
1760.116
279.2687
1217.01
143.1016
0.014


(M97936, 2q32.2)


interleukin-7 receptor
2027.312
184.3109
2307.75
174.5007
0.02


(AF043129, 5p13)


Interleukin 8 (M28130,
13608.48
1609.251
17969.3
1448.031
0.02


4q13–q21)


GRO2 oncogene (M35820,
6961.234
707.7638
5737.08
415.0885
0.001


4q21)


Interferon-induced protein
1572.879
319.6902
713.604
178.921
0.009


with


tetratricopeptide repeats 1


(M24594, 10q25–q26)


interferon-induced protein
1759.121
304.6315
828.759
214.6707
0.005


with


tetratricopeptide repeats 4


(AF026939, 10q24)


Macrophage colony
3364.842
117.2874
4029.78
110.6731
0.04


stimulating


factor 1 (m37435, 1p21–p13)


Ras inhibitor (m37190, 20)
1611.356
177.1993
860.944
120.8235
0.0003


Small inducible cytokine A2
10048.81
755.9874
8072.22
495.8341
0.007


(M28225, 17q11.2–q21.1)


Cyclooxygenase-2
3765.675
255.1504
2568.34
233.2174
<0.0001


U04636, 1q25.2–q25.3)


Transforming growth factor,
740.8099
79.60563
844.935
86.39076
0.04


beta receptor II (70–80 kD)


(D50683, 3p22)


Cyclic AMP-responsive
6531.873
386.0808
5686.2
268.2961
0.017


element modulator beta


isoform


(S681634, 10p12.1–p11.1)


Interleukin 1 receptor
13211.16
1126.502
9535.15
642.7608
<0.0001


antagonist


(X52015, 2q14.2)


Interleukin 6 (X04430, 7p21)
13482.49
852.9056
10099.2
625.5049
<0.0001


Nef-associated factor 1
5100.91
671.4467
4788.67
294.8366
0.004


(AJ011896, 5q32–q33.1)


Small inducible cytokine A7
766.0895
165.4574
686.035
91.85867
0.02


(X72308, 17q11.2–q12)


Small inducible cytokine A2
17108.01
1043.492
12566.7
742.7468
0.003


(M26683, 17q11.2–q21.1)


















TABLE 5C









L-1/TNF-INDUCED EXPRESSION VALUES WITH GC











GC resistant
GC sensitive




(n = 30)
(n = 66)












Gene (Genbank, Map)
MEAN
SEM
MEAN
SEM
P value















Perforin 1 (M28393,
5932.6836
324.4973
4613.415
214.7653
0.0007


10q22)


Tumor necrosis factor
7508.2896
451.0622
6416.635
365.9207
0.0731


receptor 2 (75 kD)


(M32315, 1p36.3–p36.2)


LPS-induced TNF-alpha
5786.222
306.7707
4946.478
171.3137
0.0127


factor (AF010312,


16p13.3–p12)


Defensin (L12691, 8)
11441.772
1372.689
7818.661
922.0382
0.0251


KIAA0542 protein
5714.3643
1558.592
9333.106
1256.301
0.0201


(AB011114, 22q12.2)


Beta 2-microglobulin
13301.895
2780.221
30811.06
3742.183
0.0027


(S82297, 15q21–q22.2)


Granzyme B precursor
1877.4227
216.4729
1227.949
107.5656
0.003


(M57888, 14q11.2)


Thymosin, beta 4
19120.795
1911.539
26315.6
1943.828
0.019


(M17733, Xq21.3–q22)


HLA class I heavy chain
22299.861
2913.894
34067.19
3096.341
0.0145


(X58536, 6p21.3)


Elongation factor EF-1-
18670.865
3364.731
33042.49
3553.801
0.0015


alpha


(J04617, 6q14)


EST (AI526078, 20q13.3)
17650.287
1587.158
25903.59
1771.242
0.0032


CD98 (M80244, 16q24.3)
5768.97
406.1578
4463.957
177.7024
0.0011


Nuclear factor kappa-B
6144.28
307.2589
5010.971
179.1457
0.0012


DNA


binding subunit


(M58603, 4q24)


Signal transducer and
6800.764
284.0342
5744.643
184.6763
0.0021


activator of transcription 4


(L78440, 2q32.2–q32.3)


Nef-associated factor 1
9655.332
495.7066
8075.491
259.7791
0.0026


(AJ011896, 5q32–q33.1)


CD44 antigen (L05424,
4486.082
168.28
3818.656
133.3167
0.0042


11p13)


(2′–5′)oligoadenylate
1667.9843
164.3503
1064.525
130.1923
0.0054


synthetase (AJ225089,


12q24.2)


Interferon regulatory factor
2292.962
205.8358
1611.122
146.0624
0.007


7 isoform a (U53831,


11p15.5)


Interferon-inducible
2946.7205
383.2516
1801.234
251.7923
0.0099


protein p78 (M33882,


21q22.3)


interferon inducible 1-8U
8983.514
1053.469
6070.849
616.6636
0.0109


gene (X57352, 11)


Interferon stimulated gene
6519.748
401.4738
5387.727
239.7823
0.012


(20 kD) (U88964, 15q26)


Interferon-stimulated
6071.2886
915.0679
3757.143
548.3279
0.021


protein,


15 kDa (m13755, 1)


CD44 isoform RC
3719.6047
178.2906
3236.746
115.0394
0.0225


(AF098641, 11p13)


CD83 antigen (Z11697,
4931.093
295.5049
4274.713
230.1791
0.0354


6p23)


Interferon stimulatable
2737.275
346.7752
1615.407
174.2281
0.011


response element


(U22970, 1p36)


TNF receptor-associated
3581.1409
185.2364
2935.34
116.3565
0.0027


factor 1 (U19621, 9q33–q34)


Adhesion molecule
3173.9238
222.309
2405.162
110.9695
0.0008


ninjurin 1 (U01512, 9q22)


TNF receptor-associated
1790.2013
89.11578
1506.127
60.22232
0.0085


factor 1 (U19261, 9q33–q34)


Transcription factor ISGF-3
1490.314
178.5814
1048.989
102.7824
0.0212


(M97936, 2q32.2)


interleukin-7 receptor
3344.87
271.804
4565.661
279.8599
0.0057


(AF043129, 5p13)


Interleukin 8
12848.457
926.3713
14222.37
992.1271
ns**


(M28130, 4q13–q21)


GRO2 oncogene
5052.562
564.9373
4225.244
349.2652
ns**


(M36820, 4q21)


Interferon-induced protein
1094.8508
209.4019
672.1904
127.6253
ns**


with tetratricopeptide


repeats 1 (M24594,


10q25–q26)


interferon-induced protein
1109.5538
162.5891
743.2253
123.5186
ns**


with tetratricopeptide


repeats 4 (AF026939,


10q24)


Macrophage colony
3624.9211
172.8444
3983.53
132.856
ns**


stimulating factor 1


(M37435, 1p21–p13)


Ras inhibitor
1615.0812
183.4838
1285.366
118.4882
ns**


(M37190, 20)


Small inducible cytokine
3485.5967
409.9117
2908.787
418.8578
ns**


A2


(M28225, 17q11.2–q21.2)


Cyclooxygenase-2
1004.8341
151.2995
1012.272
148.0441
ns**


(U04636, 1q25.2–q25.3)


Transforming growth factor,
998.71014
94.93384
1135.562
93.18079
ns**


beta receptor II (70–80 kD)


(D50683, 3p22)


Cyclic AMP-responsive
4027.2566
290.9312
4019.365
190.1472
ns**


element modulator


beta isoform


(S68134, 10p12.2–p11.1)


Interleukin 1 receptor
4454.89
509.2246
3887.395
543.3725
ns**


antagonist (X52015,


2q14.2)


Interleukin 6 (X04430,
6479.466
737.0165
5473.95
617.1881
ns**


7p21)


Nef-associated factor 1
5710.245
619.1145
5202.576
322.5588
ns**


(AJ011896, 5q32–q33.1)


Small inducible cytokine
283.77304
23.31367
334.6954
61.4575
ns**


A7


(X72308, 17q11.2–q12)


Small inducible cytokine
5850.6055
630.0103
4954.649
646.567
ns**


A2


(M26683, 17q11.2–q21.1)




















TABLE 5D






SET1/2





Genbank
Systematic
Common
Description
Map







AL049963
40456_at

Source: Homo sapiens
4





mRNA; cDNA





DKFZp564A132 (from





clone DKFZp564A132)


S68134
32066_g_at
CREM
CREM-β
10p12.1–p11.1


M58603
1378_g_at
KBF1
Human nuclear factor
4q24





kappa-B DNA binding





subunit (NF-kβ) mRNA,





complete cds


M13755
1107_s_at
ISG15
17-kDa protein
1


L31584
1097_s_at
EBI1 BLR2 CMKBR7
Source: Human G-protein-
17q12–q21.2





coupled receptor (EBI 1)





gene exon 3


AF022375
36100_at
VEGFA
H. sapiens vascular
6p12





endothelial growth factor





mRNA, complete cds.


M58603
1377_at
KBF1
Human nuclear factor
4q24





kappa-B DNA binding





subunit (NF-kβ) mRNA,





complete cds


M58603
38438_at
KBF1
Human nuclear factor
4q24





kappa-B DNA binding





subunit (NF-κβ) mRNA,





complete cds


U88964
33304_at
HEM45
low level estrogen-
15q26





modulated; deduced ORF





detected by anti-peptide





antisera


L08177
931_at
EBI2
Epstein-Barr virus induced
13





gene 2 (lymphocyte-specific





G protein-coupled receptor)


D67031
33102_at
ADDL
Source: H. sapiens ADDL
10q24.2–q24.3





mRNA for adducin-like





protein, complete cds.


AL021977
36711_at
HS5O6A DKFZP586A1024
C22orf5
22q12


V01512
1916_s_at
c-fos
Source: Human cellular
14q24.3





oncogene c-fos (complete





sequence).


X59417
36122_at
IOTA PROS27
Source: H.sapiens PROS-27
14q13





mRNA



HH BASELINE



Rest ()*S


X02910
1852_at
TNFA DIF TNFSF2
Tumor necros factor
6p21.3


M15330
39402_at
IL1B
Source: Human interleukin
2q14





1-β (IL1B) mRNA,





complete cds


J04130
36674_at
MIP-1-BETA
SCYA4, MIP1B
17q21


M28130
1369_s_at
IL8
Source: Human interleukin
4q13–q21





8 (IL8) gene, complete cds


D90144
36103_at
MIPA SCYA3
MIP1A
17q11–q21


S81914
1237_at
IEX-1
radiation-inducible
6p21.3





immediate-early gene


L11329
1292_at
PAC-1 PAC1
PAC-1; putative
2q11


M57888
32370_at
CSPB CTLA1 CCPI
Source: Human (clone
14q11.2





lambda B34)




CGL-1 CSP-B
cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-





associated serine esterase 1





(CTLA1) gene complete cds


M16441
259_s_at
TNFSF1 TNFB LT
lymphotoxin
6p21.3


X68277
1005_at
CL 100
Source: H. sapiens CL 100
5q34





mRNA for protein tyrosine





phosphatase


X78992
32588_s_at
ERF2 TIS11D
Source: H. sapiens ERF-2
2





mRNA


L12691
31506_s_at
DEF3 HNP-3
defensin
8


Z11697
37536_at
CD83
a cell-surface molecule
6p23





expressed by interdigitating





reticulum cells, Langerhans





cells and activated





lymphocytes. A member of





immunoglobin superfamily


M69199
38326_at
G0S2
Source: Human G0S2
1q32.2–q41





protein gene, complete cds


M17017
35372_r_at
MDNCF SCYB8 IL8
IL8
4q13–q21


U09937
189_s_at
URKR UPAR CD87
Source: Human urokinase-
19q13





type plasminogen receptor,





exon 7


U27467
2002_s_at
BCL2L5 BFL1 GRS HBPA1
Bcl-2 related; similar to
15q24.3





mouse hemopoietic-specific





early-response protein,





Swiss-Prot Accession





Number Q07440; similar to





mouse transforming protein





Bcl-2-β, Swiss-Prot





Accession Number P10418;





Method: conceptual





translation


AL022315
37456_at
dJ117715.1
supported by predicted
22q13.1





exons match: ESTs:





Em:AA316883


M59465
595_at
TNFA1P2 A20
tumor necrosis factor alpha
6





inducible protein


U04636
1069_at
hCox-2
Source: H. sapiens
1q25.2–q25.3





cyclooxygenase-2 (hCox-2)





gene, complete cds




















TABLE 5E









Custom


Genbank
Common
Product
Keywords
Field 2







AL049963



D4S1572


S68134
CREM
cyclic AMP-responsive element

D10S208




modulator




beta isoform


M58603
KBF1
nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
D4S1572




binding subunit
binding subunit


M13755
ISG15
interferon-stimulated protein, 15 kDa
interferon; interferon-
D8S264





inducible protein


L31584
EBI1 BLR2
chemokine (C—C motif) receptor 7
G protein-coupled receptor
#N/A



CMKBR7


AF022375
VEGFA
vascular endothelial growth

D6S282




factor


M58603
KBF1
nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
D4S1572




binding subunit
binding subunit


M58603
KBF1
nuclear factor of kappa light
nuclear factor kappa-B DNA
D4S1572




polypeptide gene enhancer in B-
binding subunit




cells 1 (p105)


U88964
HEM45
interferon stimulated gene 20 kD

#N/A


L08177
EBI2
Epstein-Barr virus induced gene

D13S1298




2 (lymphocyte-specific G




protein-coupled receptor)


D67031
ADDL
adducin 3, isoform a
adducin-like protein; ADDL
D10S597


AL021977
HS5O6A
chromosome 22 open reading
HTG; CpG island; MAFF
#N/A




frame 5



DKFZP586A1024


V01512
c-fos
v-fos FBJ murine osteosarcoma
oncogene
#N/A




viral oncogene homolog


X59417
IOTA
prosomal P27K protein
PROS-27 gene; prosomal
#N/A



PROS27

consensus; prosomal protein;





RNA-binding protein


X02910
TNFA DIF
tumor necrosis factor (cachectin)
signal peptide; tumor
#N/A



TNFSF2

necrosis factor


M15330
IL1B
interleukin 1β
interleukin-1β
D2S160


J04130
MIP-1-BETA
small inducible cytokine A4
act2 gene; immune activation
D17S933




(homologous to mouse Mip-1β)
gene


M28130
IL8
interleukin 8
interleukin 8
#N/A


D90144
MIPA SCYA3
small inducible cytokine A3
LD78; LD78 alpha; cytokine;
#N/A




(homologous to mouse Mip-1α)
inducible gene family;





secreted peptide


S81914
IEX-1
immediate early response 3

D6S1660


L11329
PAC-1 PAC1
protein tyrosine phosphatase
protein-tyrosine phosphatase;
D2S2264





tyrosine phosphatase


M57888
CSPB CTLA1
granzyme B precursor
cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-
#N/A



CCPI CGL-1

associated serine esterase 1



CSP-B


M16441
TNFSF1
lymphotoxin alpha precursor
lymphotoxin; tumor necrosis
#N/A



TNFB LT

factor


X68277
CL 100
protein-tyrosine phosphatase
tyrosine phosphatase
#N/A


X78992
ERF2 TIS11D
butyrate response factor 2 (EGF-
ERF-2 gene
D2S2259




response factor 2)


L12691
DEF3 HNP-3
defensin, alpha 3, neutrophil-

#N/A




specific


Z11697
CD83
CD83 antigen (activated B
HB15 gene; immunoglobulin
D6S259




lymphocytes, immunoglobulin
superfamily




superfamily)


M69199
G0S2
putative lymphocyte G0/G1
G0S2 protein
#N/A




switch gene


M17017
MDNCF
interleukin 8
beta-thromboglobulin
D4S3042



SCYB8 IL8


U09937
URKR UPAR
plasminogen activator, urokinase

#N/A



CD87
receptor


U27467
BCL2L5
BCL2-related protein A1

D15S1005



BFL1 GRS



HBPA1


AL022315
dJ117715.1
lectin, galactoside-binding,
HTG; CpG island; galectin;
#N/A




soluble, 2 (galectin 2)
lectin LGALS2; MSE55


M59465
TNFA1P2
tumor necrosis factor, alpha-

#N/A



A20
induced protein 3


U04636
hCox-2
cyclooxygenase-2

#N/A









While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.

## Claims

1. A method for diagnosing responders to a glucocorticoid drug for treating asthma from non-responders to the drug, comprising:
a) obtaining a sample of cells from a human patient;
b) optionally inducing a pro-inflammatory-like state by treating the sample with specific mediators;
c) obtaining a gene expression profile from the sample, wherein the expression profile comprises expression values for one or more genes listed in Tables 1, 2A, 2B, 4A, 4B and 5A–5E; and
d) comparing the gene expression profile of the sample with a reference gene expression profile indicative of responsiveness to the drug obtained from one or more patients who are responsive to the drug and/or a reference gene expression profile indicative of non-responsiveness to the drug obtained from one or more patients who are non-responsive to the drug,

wherein similarity in expression profiles between the sample and reference profiles indicates glucocorticoid sensitivity in the patient from whom the sample was obtained, thereby diagnosing the patient as a responder or non-responder to the drug.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the expression profile comprises expression values for one or more genes listed in Tables 1, 2A and 2B.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the expression profile comprises expression values for one or more genes listed in Tables 4A and 4B.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the expression profile comprises expression values for one or more genes listed in Tables 5A–5E.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising exposing the sample to the drug for treating asthma prior to obtaining the gene expression profile of the sample.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample of cells is derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells or neutrophils.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample is obtained via biopsy from synovial membrane or airway smooth muscle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the gene expression profile of the sample is obtained using a hybridization assay to oligonucleotides contained in a microarray.

9. The method of claim 8 comprising the use of hybridization probes that hybridize to polynucleotides corresponding to informative genes and reagents for detecting hybridization.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference expression profile is that of cells derived from patients who do not have asthma.