Omics and Network-based Approaches in Understanding HD Pathogenesis

Abstract

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a rare, progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by CAG repeat expansion in the Huntingtin gene. HD is an incurable disease; therefore, there is a growing need for effective therapeutic treatments and candidate biomarkers for prognosis and diagnosis of HD. Technological advancements over the past couple of years, have led to high-throughput experiments and omics data. The use of System Bioinformatics (SB) approaches, allows for the integration of information across different -omics, this can clarify synergistic relationships across biological molecules, resulting in complex biological networks. SB and network-based approaches, are able to shed light on the potential interactions of genes, proteins, metabolites and pathways participating in HD pathogenesis and how dysregulation of these biological entities, can affect age on onset, disease severity and progression. Moreover, −omics data analysis and network-based approaches can provide better understanding how these biological molecules interact with each other and provides potential drug targets and biomarkers that can be used to treat HD or delay symptom onset; therefore, opening the door towards precision medicine. The aim of the following chapter, is to discuss the most popular -omics related to HD research, and the growing popularity of single cell analysis, repositories and software available for bulk and single cell analysis. In addition, network-based approaches regarding HD will also be mentioned.