We next searched our expression dataset to determine if a gene cluster could be identified that documented whether ibandronate had a modulating effect on alcohol-related gene expression changes in bone in the co-treatment (AI) group. The criteria for the identification of this signature were as follows: 1. Genes were significantly differentially expressed after chronic (4-week) binge alcohol treatment. 2. The identical genes also exhibited modulation by ibandronate, such that their expression patterns were normalized (i.e. did not show significant differential expression compared to control) in the AI treatment group. QT clustering identified an expression profile matching these criteria. This cluster, comprised of 311 annotated genes (Table S5, Supplemental data) is a subset of the 1523 genes showing significant differential expression after chronic binge alcohol treatment described previously. Shown in Fig. 7, the signature profile depicted as a line graph is superimposed with a bar graph showing the effects of chronic binge alcohol on vertebral cancellous BMD from Fig. 2A. Each treatment group shown on the bar graph is aligned with a corresponding area of relative expression seen in the gene
