Figure 3

A General Model of "-Omics" in Complex Disease. Variation in the genome is represented in the transcriptome which is presented in the proteome. Each level is represented by an oval. For the genome each dot in the oval is a different gene or sequence variant. These variants are expressed as part of the transcriptome. However, unlike the genome which is essentially invariant among cells and tissues the transcriptome can differ substantially. Different tissues are represented by overlapping ovals. Similarly, the transcriptome is translated into the proteome differently in different tissues (again represented as overlapping ovals). The proteome affects the metabolome in a tissue specific manner and the latter two sultimately influence the phenotype. This simple model is modified by multiple factors within and among levels noted on the figure as: A) Differential splicing that can be affected by the proteome; B) siRNA and/or micro RNA; C) post-translation modification of proteins; D) transcription factor binding; E) receptor ligand binding; F) environmentally induced factors such as epigenetic modifications, mutagenesis or modifier of gene expression.