Comparison of reverse transcriptases in gene expression analysis.
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This study focused on the cell activating capacity of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) on human umbilical cord blood-derived monocytes. Our results confirm the previous findings of cell activating capacity of ELF-MF (1.0 mT) in human monocytes, which was detected as an increased ROS release. Furthermore, gene expression profiling (whole-genome cDNA array Human Unigene RZPD-2) was performed to achieve a comprehensive view of involved genes during the cell activation process after 45 min ELF-MF exposure. Our results indicate the alteration of 986 genes involved in metabolism, cellular physiological processes, signal transduction and immune response. Significant regulations could be analyzed for 5 genes (expression >2- or <0.5-fold): IL15RA (Interleukin 15 receptor, alpha chain), EPS15R (Epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate 15 - like 1), DNMT3A (Hypothetical protein MGC16121), DNMT3A (DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase 3 alpha), and one gene with no match to known genes, DKFZP586J1624. Real-time RT-PCR analysis of the kinetic of the expression of IL15RA, and IL10RA during 45 min ELF-MF exposure indicates the regulation of cell activation via the alternative pathway, whereas the delayed gene expression of FOS, IL2RA and the melatonin synthesizing enzyme HIOMT suggests the suppression of inflammatory processes. Accordingly, we suggest that ELF-MF activates human monocytes via the alternative pathway.
The manner in which a cell responds to and influences its environment is ultimately determined by the genes that it expresses. To fully understand and manipulate cellular function, identification of these expressed genes is essential. Techniques such as RT-PCR enable examination of gene expression at the tissue level. However, the study of complex heterogeneous tissue, such as the CNS or immune system, requires gene analysis to be performed at much higher resolution. In this article, the various methods that have been developed to enable RT-PCR to be performed at the level of the single cell are reviewed. In addition, how, when carried out in combination with techniques such as patch-clamp recording, single-cell gene-expression studies extend our understanding of biological systems is discussed.
Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 is a model pathogen infecting tomato and Arabidopsis plants. Genes encoding the type III secretion system and substrate proteins (collectively called TTSS genes) of this bacterium are induced in plants and in minimal medium (MM). The induction of TTSS genes is mediated by HrpL, an alternative sigma factor recognizing the hrp box in the promoter of TTSS genes. The transcription of hrpL is activated by HrpR and HrpS, two homologous DNA-binding proteins encoded by the hrpRS operon. Microarray analysis was conducted to evaluate the DC3000 genes regulated by hrpL and hrpRS in MM. The analysis identified a number of novel hrpL-activated genes with a putative TTSS-independent function. Genes regulated by hrpL were mostly regulated by hrpRS in the same manner, but a large number of genes regulated by hrpRS were hrpL-independent, indicating that hrpL represents one branch of the regulatory pathways downstream of hrpRS. The induction of the TTSS genes was associated with downregulation of the housekeeping genes, indicating that the activation of the TTSS has a cost on the basic cellular activities. The novel genes and pathways identified by the microarray provide new insight into the bacterial functions coordinating with the TTSS.
BACKGROUND: DNA microarray technology is widely used to determine the expression levels of thousands of genes in a single experiment, for a broad range of organisms. Optimal design of immobilized nucleic acids has a direct impact on the reliability of microarray results. However, despite small genome size and complexity, prokaryotic organisms are not frequently studied to validate selected bioinformatics approaches. Relying on parameters shown to affect the hybridization of nucleic acids, we designed freely available software and validated experimentally its performance on the bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. RESULTS: We describe an efficient procedure for selecting 40-60 mer oligonucleotide probes combining optimal thermodynamic properties with high target specificity, suitable for genomic studies of microbial species. The algorithm for filtering probes from extensive oligonucleotides libraries fitting standard thermodynamic criteria includes positional information of predicted target-probe binding regions. This algorithm efficiently selected probes recognizing homologous gene targets across three different sequenced genomes of Staphylococcus aureus. BLAST analysis of the final selection of 5,427 probes yielded >97%, 93%, and 81% of Staphylococcus aureus genome coverage in strains N315, Mu50, and COL, respectively. A manufactured oligoarray including a subset of control Escherichia coli probes was validated for applications in the fields of comparative genomics and molecular epidemiology, mapping of deletion mutations and transcription profiling. CONCLUSION: This generic chip-design process merging sequence information from several related genomes improves genome coverage even in conserved regions.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major etiological factors responsible for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We used a transgenic mouse, containing HBV sequences, as a model system to unravel the molecular mechanisms of hepatocarcinogenesis induced by HBV. We chose this animal model because it consistently develops liver cancer after intermediate steps that mimic the natural history of HBV infection in humans. In this study, we focus our attention on the early events leading to liver cancer. We compared the gene expression profile of 3-month-old transgenic mice with that of 3-month-old wild-type (wt) animals. In the transgenic mouse, microarray data analysis showed a total of 45 significantly differentially expressed genes, 25 highly expressed (fold change > or =2; P = 0.0025), and 20 downregulated (fold change < or =0.5; P = 0.0025). These genes belong to several different functional categories such as the regulation of immunological response, transcription, intracellular calcium ion mobilization, regulation of cell cycle and proliferation, NF-kappab signal transduction cascades, and apoptosis. In particular, the upregulation of the antiapoptotic gene NuprI and the downregulation of the proapoptotic gene Bnip3 were found. This observation was supported by an in vitro apoptosis assay that showed downregulation of apoptosis in hepatocytes of HBV transgenic mouse compared with wt mice treated with staurosporine. In conclusion, our experimental approach allowed identification of new genes modulated by HBV and showed that the apoptotic process was deregulated in transgenic mouse hepatocytes. These data shed light on one possible mechanism by which HBV induces hepatocarcinogenesis.
After the completion of the genomic sequence of Arabidopsis thaliana, it is now a priority to identify all the genes, their patterns of expression and functions. Transcript profiling is playing a substantial role in annotating and determining gene functions, having advanced from one-gene-at-a-time methods to technologies that provide a holistic view of the genome. In this review, comprehensive transcript profiling methodologies are described, including two that are used extensively by the authors, cDNA-AFLP and cDNA microarraying. Both these technologies illustrate the requirement to integrate molecular biology, automation, LIMS and data analysis. With so much uncharted territory in the Arabidopsis genome, and the desire to tackle complex biological traits, such integrated systems will provide a rich source of data for the correlative, functional annotation of genes.
In the present work, we report the use of bacterial colonies to optimize macroarray technique. The devised system is significantly cheaper than other methods available to detect large-scale differential gene expression. Recombinant Escherichia coli clones containing plasmid-encoded copies of 4,608 individual expressed sequence tag (ESTs) were robotically spotted onto nylon membranes that were incubated for 6 and 12 h to allow the bacteria to grow and, consequently, amplify the cloned ESTs. The membranes were then hybridized with a beta-lactamase gene specific probe from the recombinant plasmid and, subsequently, phosphorimaged to quantify the microbial cells. Variance analysis demonstrated that the spot hybridization signal intensity was similar for 3,954 ESTs (85.8%) after 6 h of bacterial growth. Membranes spotted with bacteria colonies grown for 12 h had 4,017 ESTs (87.2%) with comparable signal intensity but the signal to noise ratio was fivefold higher. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that it is possible to investigate large-scale gene expression using macroarrays based on bacterial colonies grown for 6 h onto membranes.
In-stent restenosis remains a significant problem associated with bare metal stents. This drawback has prompted research into improving stent design and the development of novel coatings, including drug-eluting stents. A number of drug-eluting stents are currently on the market; however, the success rate of these stents in complex situations has been found to be quite low. Thus, there remains potential for the development of more suitable drug-eluting stents. The aims of this study were to use a thermoresponsive polymer to develop a system to locally deliver vinblastine, an antimitotic agent currently used as an anticancer drug, and in addition, assess the effects of this drug at the gene expression level in vitro. An N-isopropylacrylamide/N-tert-butylacrylamide (NiPAAm/NtBAAm) copolymer solution in the ratio 65:35 was prepared and appropriate volumes of vinblastine were added to generate two final drug concentrations of 22 nanomoles/film or 0.022 nanomoles/film. Stainless steel discs (316) were coated with the copolymer solution or this solution containing drug. Human endothelial cells were cultured on collagen type 1 gels and then incubated with the coated discs for 24 h. Gene expression studies using oligonucleotide microarray analysis and quantitative RT-PCR were then performed. Microarray analysis revealed that vinblastine causes the differential expression of a range of genes involved in a variety of different functions, including cell cycle and apoptosis. The changes in expression of some of these genes culminate in cell cycle arrest and apoptotic pathways.
Transcriptional profiling allows for the assessment and comparison of cross-species gene activity and function on a comprehensive scale. The Solanaceae is a large, diverse dicot family, with well-established genetic relationships between major crop species (tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, and tobacco). Although Arabidopsis thaliana is often the model of choice for anchoring comparative studies, certain biological processes are better examined in other plants. The ripening of fleshy fruits is not tractable in Arabidopsis; however, it has received considerable attention in tomato. As a member of the Solanaceae, tomato provides a well-characterized system to anchor transcriptional profiles of fruit ripening and development in related species. By utilizing different stages of tomato, pepper, and eggplant fruit, the use of tomato microarrays for expression analysis has been demonstrated in closely related heterologous species, and groups of candidate expressed sequence tags, which are useful as orthologous markers, have been identified, as well as genes implicated in fruit ripening and development in the Solanaceae.
The complex life cycle of malaria parasites requires significant changes in gene expression as the parasites move from vector to host and back to the vector. Although recognised as an important vaccine and drug target, the liver stage parasite has remained difficult to study. One of the major impediments in identifying parasite gene expression at the liver stage has remained the large number of uninfected hepatocytes relative to the number of infected hepatocytes in the liver after sporozoite inoculation. This article describes several of the approaches that have been utilised to overcome this difficulty in rodent models of malaria. While significant progress has been made to identify genes that are expressed during liver stage parasite development, a great deal more work remains to be done.
We report a quantum dot (Qdot) nanobarcode-based microbead random array platform for accurate and reproducible gene expression profiling in a high-throughput and multiplexed format. Four different sizes of Qdots, with emissions at 525, 545, 565, and 585 nm are mixed with a polymer and coated onto the 8-mum-diameter magnetic microbeads to generate a nanobarcoded bead termed as QBeads. Twelve intensity levels for each of the four colors were used. Gene-specific oligonucleotide probes are conjugated to the surface of each spectrally nanobarcoded bead to create a multiplexed panel, and biotinylated cRNAs are generated from sample total RNA and hybridized to the gene probes on the microbeads. A fifth streptavidin Qdot (655 nm or infrared Qdot) binds to biotin on the cRNA, acting as a quantification reporter. Target identity was decoded based on spectral profile and intensity ratios of the four coding Qdots (525, 545, 565, and 585 nm). The intensity of the 655 nm Qdot reflects the level of biotinylated cRNA captured on the beads and provides the quantification for the corresponding target gene. The system shows a sensitivity of < or =10(4) target molecules detectable with T7 amplification, a level that is better than the 10(5) number achievable with a high-density microarray system, and approaching the 10(3)-10(4) level usually observed for quantitative PCR (qPCR). The QBead nanobarcode system has a dynamic range of 3.5 logs, better than the 2-3 logs observed on various microarray platforms. The hybridization reaction is performed in liquid phase and completed in 1-2 hours, at least 1 order of magnitude faster than microarray-based hybridizations. Detectable fold change is lower than 1.4-fold, showing high precision even at close to single copy per cell level. Reproducibility for this proof-of-concept study approaches that of Affymetrix GeneChip microarray, with an R(2) value between two repeats at 0.984, and interwell CV around 5%. In addition, it provides increased flexibility, convenience, and cost-effectiveness in comparison to conventional gene expression profiling methods.
We used mRNA differential display to assess yeast gene expression under cold or freeze shock stress conditions. We found both up- and down-regulation of genes, although repression was more common. We identified and sequenced several cold-induced genes exhibiting the largest differences. We confirmed, by Northern blotting, the specificity of the response for TPI1, which encodes triose-phosphate isomerase; ERG10, the gene for acetoacetyl coenzyme A thiolase; and IMH1, which encodes a protein implicated in protein transport. These genes also were induced under other stress conditions, suggesting that this cold response is mediated by a general stress mechanism. We determined the physiological significance of the cold-induced expression change of these genes in two baker's yeast strains with different sensitivities to freeze stress. The mRNA level of TPI1 and ERG10 genes was higher in freeze-stressed than in control samples of the tolerant strain. In contrast, both genes were repressed in frozen cells of the sensitive strain. Next, we examined the effects of ERG10 overexpression on cold and freeze-thaw tolerance. Growth of wild-type cells at 10 degrees C was not affected by high ERG10 expression. However, YEpERG10 transformant cells exhibited increased freezing tolerance. Consistent with this, cells of an erg10 mutant strain showed a clear phenotype of cold and freeze sensitivity. These results give support to the idea that a cause-and-effect relationship between differentially expressed genes and cryoresistance exists in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and open up the possibility of design strategies to improve the freeze tolerance of baker's yeast.
PURPOSE: To explore the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on gene expression during human fetal retinal maturation. METHODS: Human fetal retinal explants were cultured in serum-free Waymouth's medium supplemented with DHA or oleic acid (OA), using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the vehicle. After 14 days in culture, fatty acid composition was assessed, and the abundance of 2400 cDNAs was examined with a human cDNA microarray system. RESULTS: Transcript abundance remained unchanged for 82% and 90% of genes in the explants with added DHA or OA, respectively. Decreased expression was detected in 4% and 9% of genes, in explants supplemented with DHA or OA, respectively, whereas, 14% of genes in explants exposed to DHA and only 0.4% of genes in explants treated with OA showed increased expression. Transcripts displaying changes in abundance in explants supplemented with DHA encode for proteins involved in diverse biological functions, including neurogenesis, neurotransmission, and refinement of connectivity. These gene expression changes were not observed in explants supplemented with OA. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of DHA deficiency on retinal function during human development can be partly explained by modifications in retinal gene expression by direct or indirect mechanisms.
The biological mechanisms that link genetic variation and its phenotypic outcome stand as a central puzzle in biology. Geneticists have usually approached this problem by trying to identify genetic variants that underlie the trait in question. Ten years ago, microarray technology opened a second front by making it possible to compare expression levels for most active genes under a variety of genetic and environmental conditions. A typical study reveals up- or down-regulation of genes or pathways associated with a phenotype (case/control) or condition (treated/untreated). In the past few years, a number of groups have started to combine gene expression studies with genetic linkage analysis, leading to a new synergy between these approaches. In this strategy, expression levels are treated as quantitative phenotypes and genetic variants that influence gene expression are sought. Several studies have shown that mRNA levels for many genes are heritable, thus amenable to genetic analysis. Quantitative trait loci mapping efforts have led to the initial characterization of genetic regulation in 'cis' probably because of variants in the gene's own regulatory regions, as well as in 'trans', i.e. by loci elsewhere in the genome. The existence of some 'master regulators' that each affects expression levels of hundreds of genes is an important finding that will surely enrich our understanding of regulatory networks. Although this novel field is still developing, understanding the genetic basis of molecular phenotypes such as gene expression is expected to shed light on the intermediate processes that connect genotype to cellular and organismal traits and represents a critical step towards true systems biology.
Serial Analysis of Gene Expression was used to define number and relative abundance of transcripts in the root tip of well-watered maize seedlings (Zea mays cv FR697). In total, 161,320 tags represented a minimum of 14,850 genes, based on at least two tags detected per transcript. The root transcriptome has been sampled to an estimated copy number of approximately five transcripts per cell. An extrapolation from the data and testing of single-tag identifiers by reverse transcription-PCR indicated that the maize root transcriptome should amount to at least 22,000 expressed genes. Frequency ranged from low copy number (2-5, 68.8%) to highly abundant transcripts (100-->1,200; 1%). Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR for selected transcripts indicated high correlation with tag frequency. Computational analysis compared this set with known maize transcripts and other root transcriptome models. Among the 14,850 tags, 7,010 (47%) were found for which no maize cDNA or gene model existed. Comparing the maize root transcriptome with that in other plants indicated that highly expressed transcripts differed substantially; less than 5% of the most abundant transcripts were shared between maize and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Transcript categories highlight functions of the maize root tip. Significant variation in abundance characterizes transcripts derived from isoforms of individual enzymes in biochemical pathways.
Researchers in the p53 field have successfully used many high-throughput screening technologies to analyze and characterize p53-induced gene expression. This chapter will focus on one such technology, the Affymetrix GeneChip. DNA-Chip technology has grown rapidly over the last several years. The ability to hybridize RNA from a sample to thousands to tens of thousands of known and unknown cDNAs spotted on a microarray chip has led to the explosion of information ranging from macro-global expression pattern changes to micro-gene-specific expression changes. The relative ease of making a nonradioactive probe from either total RNA or mRNA to be hybridized to a GeneChip makes microarray technology highly attractive.