We used the nine tissues with the largest sample size in the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Pilot Project14 to test the gene prediction models generated in the DGN cohort. Tissue samples included subcutaneous adipose (n=115), tibial artery (n=122), left ventricle heart (n=88), lung (n=126), skeletal muscle (n=143), tibial nerve (n=98), skin from the sun-exposed portion of the lower leg (n=114), thyroid (n=112), and whole blood (n=162). In each tissue, normalized gene expression was adjusted for gender, the top 3 principal components (derived from genotype data), and the top 15 PEER factorsh.2p2csry (to quantify batch effects and experimental confounders)41. We used GTEx to test the portability of predictors developed in whole blood (from the DGN cohort) across a wide variety of tissues.
