The genetic structure of the Belgian population.

Background: National and international efforts like the 1000 Genomes Project are leading to increasing insights in the genetic structure of populations worldwide. Variation between different populations necessitates access to population-based genetic reference datasets. These data, which are important not only in clinical settings but also to potentiate future transitions towards a more personalized public health approach, are currently not available for the Belgian population.

Modification of citrulline residues with 2,3-butanedione facilitates their detection by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Citrullination is a post-translational modification (PTM) that results from the deimination of the amino acid arginine into citrulline by Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase enzymes and occurs in a wide range of proteins in health and disease. This modification causes a 1 Da mass shift, which can be used to identify citrullination sites in proteins by the use of mass spectrometry. However, other PTMs, such as deamidation from asparagine to aspartic acid or from glutamine to glutamic acid, can also cause a 1 Da mass shift, making correct interpretation of the data more difficult.

FAM-MDR: a flexible family-based multifactor dimensionality reduction technique to detect epistasis using related individuals.

We propose a novel multifactor dimensionality reduction method for epistasis detection in small or extended pedigrees, FAM-MDR. It combines features of the Genome-wide Rapid Association using Mixed Model And Regression approach (GRAMMAR) with Model-Based MDR (MB-MDR). We focus on continuous traits, although the method is general and can be used for outcomes of any type, including binary and censored traits.