PIA

PIA prioritizes drug targets for adult-onset and childhood-onset asthma by integrating genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and network-driven analyses to identify shared and subtype-specific therapeutic targets.

Key Features:

• Genetics-Led Approach: Uses genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data to characterize the genetic architectures specific to adult-onset and childhood-onset asthma.
• Network-Driven Prioritization: Integrates network analysis to identify genes and pathways involved in asthma pathogenesis across age-defined subtypes.
• Shared and Distinct Target Identification: Distinguishes drug targets that are shared by both subtypes from those that are specific to adult-onset or childhood-onset asthma.
• Pathway Crosstalk Analysis: Identifies crosstalk genes in signaling pathways, noting shared crosstalk gene enrichment in JAK-STAT and childhood-onset-specific enrichment in PI3K-AKT-mTOR.
• Clinical Relevance and Drug Repurposing: Highlights genes already targeted by existing licensed medications to nominate potential drug repurposing candidates, with emphasis on childhood-onset asthma.

Scientific Applications:

• Therapeutic target discovery: Identifies and prioritizes candidate drug targets aligned with genetic and molecular features of adult- and childhood-onset asthma.
• Drug repurposing prioritization: Guides selection of existing licensed medications for repurposing based on shared or subtype-specific targets.
• Subtype-specific mechanism elucidation: Informs comparative analysis of pathway involvement (for example, JAK-STAT versus PI3K-AKT-mTOR) between asthma subtypes.

Methodology:

Uses GWAS data to define subtype-specific genetic architectures; integrates network analysis to prioritize genes and pathways; performs pathway crosstalk analysis to identify crosstalk genes; maps genes to existing licensed drug targets to highlight repurposing candidates.