Gene Expression Profiling in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer

Rationale: Chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) is a common and disabling lung disease for which there are few therapeutic options.Objectives: We reasoned that gene expression profiling of COPD lungs could reveal previously unidentified disease pathways.Methods: Forty-eight human lung samples were obtained from tissue resected from five nonsmokers, 21 GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) stage 0, 9 GOLD stage 1, 10 GOLD stage 2, and 3 GOLD stage 3 patients. mRNA from the specimens was profiled using Agilent's Functional ID v2.0 array (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA) containing 23,720 sequences.Measurements and Main Results: The gene expression pattern was influenced by the percentage of the sample made up of parenchyma. Gene expression was related to forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of forced expiratory volume (FEF25–75% % predicted) revealing a signature gene set of 203 transcripts. Genes involved in extracellular matrix synthesis/degradation and apoptosis were among the up...