sleBioRepo: a gene expression compendium in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, "lupus"), is an autoimmune disease in which the human immune system attacks the body's own organs and tissues. However, SLE is very difficult to diagnose, mimicking numerous other conditions, and manually curated database for mRNA expression levels, and SLE association studies, have yet to be established. Here, we constructed a user-friendly database, "sleBioRepo," equipped with a graphical web interface, for simple browsing or searching differential gene expression between control and case groups. Data sets in our database cover 32 Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) series, consisting of 2042 samples of diverse body tissues. Also, we provide demographics, and differentially expressed genes, of user-selected samples and genes, for the purpose of improving knowledge of this pathology. We assert that our database will serve as a comprehensive resource for mRNA biomarker studies, as well as for prioritising mRNAs, for functional validation in SLE, with likely extension to other diseases.