Effect of human genetic variability on gene transcription in dorsal root ganglia and association with pain phenotypes [transcript-level]

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) can affect mRNA gene expression, in a tissue-specific manner. In this work we survey association of SNP alleles with mRNA gene expression in human dorsal root ganglions (DRG) to gain insights into pathophysiology of pain phenotypes. DNA and RNA was extracted from dorsal root ganglions of deceased human patients; the DNA used for genotyping and the RNA used for mRNA expression level measurement. Expression quantitative trait loci analyses were performed between SNP alleles and mRNA levels to evaluate strength of association between minor allele content at a given SNP and mRNA level of a given gene/exon.