FIGURE 5 | Effects of gene–gene interactions on asthma susceptibility.

The risk of developing asthma is synergistically increased by combinations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in individual genes of the T helper 2 (T_H2)-cell-associated signalling pathway. Individual polymorphisms in interleukin-4 (IL4) (rs2243250), IL13 (rs1800925), IL4RA (rs1805010) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) (rs324011), and their combinations are shown as colour-coded squares. Asthma risk is indicated on the y-axis. In a group of 1,120 German children, 9–11 years old, each polymorphism in isolation had a modest effect on asthma susceptibility (left), but risk was synergistically enhanced by carrying SNPs in two (centre) or three (right) genes within the T_H2-cell-associated pathway. This figure is modified with permission from Ref. 125 © (2006) Elsevier Science.

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