Figure 1

The influence of germline polymorphisms on gene expression is present but reduced in tumors. (a) Hierarchical clustering of total gene expression from papilloma pairs indicates that germline polymorphisms continue to exert a major effect on gene expression at the benign tumor stage. Bars indicate when both papillomas in a pair are most similar to each other. (b) Counts of total, cis-, and trans- eQTL in skin, papillomas, and carcinomas, showing that overall germline control of gene expression is strongly reduced, particularly for trans-eQTL, in malignant carcinomas.