Transcriptional profiling in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy to identify candidate biomarkers

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a progressive neuromuscular disorder caused by contractions of repetitive elements within the macrosatellite D4Z4 on chromosome 4q35. In order to develop mRNA-based biomarkers of affected muscles, we used GeneChip Gene 1.0 ST arrays for global analysis of gene expression in muscle biopsy specimens obtained from FSHD subjects and their unaffected first degree relatives. FSHD typically affects biceps muscles more severely than deltoid muscles. To examine muscle-specific expression changes associated with FSHD while controlling for background genetic variation, we analyzed RNA extracted from both biceps and deltoids of FSHD subjects and unaffected first-degree relatives.