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Gene-expression profiling during curcumin-induced apoptosis reveals downregulation of CXCR4.

OBJECTIVE: A dietary compound curcumin hardwires to multiple cellular processes, with suppression of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and inhibition of metastasis considered as the major mechanisms underlying its anticancer properties. Based on our recent evidence that curcumin triggers cell demise in follicular lymphoma (FL) cells, we aimed to identify curcumin-regulated genes of utmost importance for the treatment of follicular lymphoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Large-scale gene-expression profiling was performed during curcumin-triggered apoptosis (8-36 hours) in follicular lymphoma HF4.9 cells using Sentrix Human WG-6 BeadChips. Expression levels of selected differentially expressed genes were verified by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunoblotting. Chemical inhibitor studies (cyclosporin A and AMD3100) were performed to provide further insights into the functional significance of selected genes. RESULTS: Comprehensive transcriptional response is associated with curcumin treatment in HF4.9 cells, including differential expression of genes encoding apoptotic signaling proteins, tumor and metastasis suppressors, transcription and splicing factors, proteins involved in regulation of cell adhesion, migration (e.g., CXCR4), lymphoid development, or B-cell activation (e.g. CD20), and others. CXCR4 downregulation was confirmed by both qRT-PCR and immunoblotting. Importantly, curcumin induced downregulation of CXCR4 protein also in other FL cell lines, and similar effect was observed upon prolonged incubation with low concentration of curcumin. AMD3100 (a selective CXCR4 antagonist) alone enhanced neither spontaneous nor serum-starvation-induced death at 24 hours of treatment, but impaired long-term cell growth in a cell line-dependent fashion. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study showing curcumin-induced downregulation of CXCR4, and at attainable in vivo concentration of the polyphenol. Other curcumin-regulated genes identified herein, e.g., CD20, are also seemingly pertinent to the pathophysiology of follicular lymphoma.

Antigens, CD20↗

Gene expression profiling in lung tissues from mice exposed to cigarette smoke, lipopolysaccharide, or smoke plus lipopolysaccharide by inhalation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether coexposure to lipopolysacchride (LPS) will heighten the inflammatory response and other pulmonary lesions in mice exposed to cigarette smoke, and thus to evaluate the potential use of this LPS-compromised mouse model as a model for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) investigation. AKR/J male mice were exposed to HEPA-filtered air (sham control group), cigarette smoke (smoke group), LPS (LPS group), or smoke plus LPS (smoke-LPS group) by nose-only inhalation. Lungs were collected at the end of the 3-wk exposure and processed for microarray analysis. Clustering and network analysis showed decreased heat-shock response and chaperone activity, increased immune and inflammatory response, and increased mitosis in all three exposed groups. Two networks/function modules were exclusively found in the smoke-LPS group, that is, the downregulated muscle development/muscle contraction process and the upregulated reactive oxygen species production process. Notably, the number of genes and function modules/networks associated with inflammation was reduced in the smoke-LPS group compared to the LPS group. The most upregulated gene in the smoke group, MMP12, is a matrix metalloproteinase that preferentially degrades elastin and has been implicated in COPD development. NOXO1, which was upregulated in all three treatment groups, positively regulates the expression of a subunit of NADPH oxidase (NOX1), a major source of reactive oxygen species, and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD. Serum amyloid A1, which is an acute-phase systemic inflammation marker and can be induced by LPS exposure, was significantly upregulated in the LPS and smoke-LPS groups. MARCO, a scavenger receptor expressed in macrophages that may play a significant role in LPS-induced inflammatory response, was upregulated in the LPS group and the smoke-LPS group, but not in the smoke group. In conclusion, gene expression profiling identified genes and function modules that may be related to COPD pathogenesis and may be useful as biomarkers to monitor COPD progression. In addition, an LPS-compromised mouse model showed potential as a useful tool for studying cigarette smoke-associated COPD.

Administration, Inhalation↗

Transcriptome analysis and gene expression profiles of early apoptosis-related genes in Streptococcus pyogenes-infected epithelial cells.

Epithelial cells are the initial sites of host invasion by group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), and GAS infection of epithelial cells has been suggested to induce apoptosis. We previously reported that the induction of apoptosis is strongly associated with the protein F1-mediated invasion. We present here the gene expression profiles of the human epithelial HEp-2 cells during GAS-induced apoptosis, using serial gene analysis of expression (SAGE) analysis and macroarray analysis of apoptosis-related genes. Serial gene analysis of expression revealed the downregulation of voltage-dependent anion channels 1 and 2 genes and the upregulation of the cytochrome c oxidase and calcium binding protein genes (calpactin, calgizzarin and programmed cell death 6). Macroarray analysis and quantitative RT-PCR analysis also revealed that the genes for IL-1beta, IL-12 p35, IL12 p40, and GM-CSF are also markedly induced by GAS invasion. Furthermore, caspase-1, -9, and -14 genes are significantly upregulated during GAS invasion. These observations indicated that apoptosis associated with GAS invasion is mainly induced by mitochondrial dysfunction and calcium regulation as well as by stress, and that these transcriptional controls may regulate the cellular response to GAS invasion.

Apoptosis↗

Modeling tumor predisposing FH mutations in yeast: effects on fumarase activity, growth phenotype and gene expression profile.

Heterozygous mutations in the fumarase (FH) gene cause the tumor predisposition syndrome hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (MIM 605839). While most families segregate a benign phenotype of multiple leiomyomas, others display a phenotype with early-onset renal cancer and leiomyosarcoma. Modifier genes may play a role in this, but an alternative explanation is simple genotype-phenotype association. FH mutations predisposing to cancer appear to be truncating or in fully conserved amino acids, suggesting that mutations severely affecting FH activity might predispose to malignancy. In the present study, we analyzed 2 conserved fumarase mutations in yeast. H153R has been described in 3 cancer predisposition families; whereas all 3 reported K187R families have displayed the benign phenotype. Examining H153R and K187R should clarify whether cancer-related FH mutations differ from their benign phenotype-associated counterparts. Yeast strains containing the 2 mutations, and knockout and wild type (WT) references, were created and the growth phenotypes studied on selected carbon sources to assess mitochondrial function. Additionally, Fum1 protein production and activity were measured, and the strains were subjected to transcriptional profiling. On nonfermentable lactate medium, the fumarase knockout strains did not grow, whereas the mutants showed no differences, as compared to WT yeast. Although both mutant strains produced fumarase, a considerable decrease in enzyme activity was seen in mutants with respect to WT. Transcription of the majority of Krebs cycle enzymes was downregulated in response to mutations in fumarase. In conclusion, both mutants displayed some, albeit greatly reduced, fumarase activity. This activity was sufficient to support normal growth on nonfermentable carbon source, unlike the deletion phenotype, demonstrating the significance of the residual activity. The findings support the hypothesis that modifier gene(s), rather than phenotype-genotype effects, display a major role in determining tumor phenotypes in families segregating FH mutations.

Cell Division↗

Gene expression profile of B 16(F10) murine melanoma cells exposed to hypoxic conditions in vitro.

Hypoxia is an important feature of tumor microenvironment, exerting far-reaching effects on cells and contributing to cancer progression. Previous studies have established substantial differences in hypoxia response between various cell lines. Investigating this phenomenon in melanoma cells contributes to a better understanding of cell lineage-specific hypoxia response and could point out novel hypoxia-regulated genes. We investigated transcriptional activity of B 16(F10) murine melanoma cells cultured for 24 h under hypoxic (nominal 1% O2, 15 samples including controls) and hypoxia-mimicking conditions (cobalt chloride, 100 or 200 microM, 6 samples including controls). Gene expression profiles were analyzed using MG-U74Av2 oligonucleotide microarrays. Data analysis revealed 2541 probesets (FDR <5%) for 1% oxygen experiment and 364 probesets (FDR <5%) for cobalt chloride, which showed differences in expression levels. Analysis of hypoxia-regulated genes (true hypoxia, 1% O2) by stringent Family-Wise Error Rate estimation indicated 454 significantly changed transcripts (p < 0.05). The most upregulated genes were Lgals3, Selenbpl, Nppb (more than ten-fold increase). We observed significant differences in expression levels of genes regulating glycolysis (Pfkp, Hk2, Aldo3, Eno2), apoptosis (Bnip3, Bnip31, Cdknla), transcription (Bhlhb2, Sap30, Atf3, Mxil), angiogenesis (Vegfa, Adm, Anxa2, Ctgf), adhesion (Pkp2, Itga4, Mcam), migration (Cnn2, Tmsb4x), and other processes. Both true hypoxia and hypoxia mimicry induced HIF-1-regulated genes. However, unsupervised analysis (Singular Value Decomposition) revealed distinct differences in gene expression between these two experimental conditions. Contrary to hypoxia, cobalt chloride caused suppression of gene expression rather than stimulation, especially concerning transcripts related to proliferation, immune response, DNA repair, and melanin biosynthesis.

Animals↗

Gene expression profiles in response to the activation of adrenoceptors in A7r5 aortic smooth muscle cells.

1. Vascular adrenoceptors play an important role in vascular physiology and pathophysiology, such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. To define the changes in the ene expression in vascular smooth muscle cells in response to the activation of alpha1- or beta-adrenoceptors, a DNA microarray was used. 2. First, the existence of alpha1- and beta-adrenoceptors in A7r5 aortic smooth muscle cells was confirmed by radioligand binding. Then, the inhibitory effects of phenylephrine (an alpha1-adrenoceptor agonist) and isoproterenol (a beta-adrenoceptor agonist) on the proliferation of A7r5 cells were determined by [3H]-thymidine incorporation. 3. The A7r5 cells were treated with 10 micromol/L phenylephrine or 1 micromol/L isoproterenol for 24 h and changes in gene expression were detected with the DNA microarray. Only 14 and 20 genes were identified after treatment of cells with phenylephrine and isoproterenol, respectively, and most genes displayed decreased expression. The changed genes could be grouped into five major functional categories: cell signalling/communication, cell structure/motility, cell/organism defence, gene/protein expression and metabolism. The gene expression profile in response to the activation of alpha1-adrenoceptors was very different from that following activation of beta-adrenoceptors. Interestingly, many phenylephrine-responsive genes were associated with metabolism, whereas many isoproterenol-responsive genes encoded cell signalling and structure proteins. This means that adrenoceptors may modulate multiple aspects of biological function in vascular smooth muscle cells. 4. Collectively, the activation of both alpha1-adrenoceptors (with phenylephrine) and beta-adrenoceptors (with isoproterenol) inhibited the proliferation of A7r5 cells, but microarray data revealed that the mechanisms may be different: the activation of alpha1-adrenoceptors could induce the expression of metabolic genes, resulting in the inhibition of proliferation, whereas activation of beta-adrenoceptors altered the expression of genes that encoded cell signalling and structure proteins to inhibit cell proliferation.

Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Agonists↗

Comparative quantification of pharmacodynamic parameters of chiral compounds (RRR- vs. all-rac-alpha tocopherol) by global gene expression profiling.

Pharmacologically active compounds (e.g. from the groups of pharmaceutical drugs, cofactors or vitamins) often consist of two or more stereoisomers (enantiomers or diastereoisomers) which may differ in their pharmacodynamic/kinetic, toxicological and biological properties. A well-known example is vitamin E which is predominantly administered as two different forms, one derived from natural sources (mainly soybeans), and one from production by chemical total-synthesis. While vitamin E from natural sources occurs as a single stereoisomer (RRR-alpha-tocopherol), synthetic vitamin E (all-rac-alpha-tocopherol) is an equimolar mixture of eight stereoisomers. Based on a number of animal studies it has been suggested that the biological potency of natural-source vitamin E is 1.36 greater compared to its counterpart produced by chemical synthesis. In this study, we have used the Affymetrix GeneChip technology to evaluate the feasibility of a new bio-assay where the gene regulatory activities of RRR-alpha-tocopherol and all-rac-alpha-tocopherol were quantified and compared on the genome-wide level. For this purpose, HepG2 cells were supplemented with increasing amounts of RRR- or all-rac-alpha-tocopherol for 7 days. Genes showing a dose-related induction/repression were identified by global gene expression profiling. Our findings show that RRR- and all-rac-alpha-tocopherol share an identical transcriptional activity, i.e. induce/repress the expression of the same set of genes. Based on the transcriptional dose-response data, EC50 and IC50 values were determined for each of these genes. The feasibility of calculating a "transcriptional potency factor" of RRR- vs. all-rac-e-tocopherol was evaluated by dividing the EC50/IC50 of RRR-alpha-tocopherol by the corresponding EC50/IC50 of all-rac-alpha-tocopherol for every of the vitamin E responsive genes. Using this approach we have calculated 215 single biopotency ratios. Subsequently, the mean of all potency ratios was found to be 1.05. In the present work we propose a new assay for the analysis and comparison of the biological activity and potency of chiral compounds in vivo.

Cell Line, Tumor↗

Carotid arteriotomy induces different temporal gene expression profiles in normotensive and hypertensive rat strains.

Analysis of gene expression profiles in patients or in animal models affected by cardiovascular diseases may provide insight into therapeutic strategies. In this study, 3 rat strains, Wistar Kyoto (WKY), spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and the Milan hypertensive rat strain (MHS), have been investigated to assess the influence of genetic background and/or of hypertension on gene expression in arteriotomy-injured carotid arteries (CAs). Expression profiles of genes, c-myc, AT1, AT2, ETA, ETB, Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-X, were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the acute phase, from 1 to 48 h, following CA arteriotomy. WKY, SHR and MHS show significant differences in gene expression profiles after CA arteriotomy. c-Myc mRNA is activated earlier and/or to a greater extent in hypertensive strains than in WKY (p<0.05). AT1 mRNA increases in WKY after injury, while it decreases in both SHR and MHS (p<0.05). AT2 shows the opposite behaviour, decreasing in WKY and increasing in hypertensive strains (p<0.05). ETA mRNA decreases in all strains although with different timing and levels, associated with a replacement by ETB mRNA (p<0.05). Bcl-2/Bax ratio gradually decreases in WKY, while it decreases only transiently in SHR and MHS 4 h after injury (p<0.05). Overall data indicate that therapeutic strategies for stenosis prevention should carefully consider the gene expression profile after injury, the genetic background, the kind of vascular trauma and the diseases affecting the animal model or the patient.

Animals↗

Gene expression profiles in thyroid carcinomas.

The gene expression profiles of human thyroid carcinomas were analysed by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) which allows quantitative and simultaneous analysis of a large number of transcripts. More than 29,000 transcripts derived from a normal thyroid tissue and four thyroid tumours were analysed. While extensive similarity was noted between the expression profiles of the normal thyroid tissue and three differentiated thyroid tumours, many transcripts, such as osteonectin, a-tubulin, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione peroxidase, and thyroglobulin, were expressed at extremely different levels in differentiated and undifferentiated carcinomas. These data provide new information that might be used to identify genes useful for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid carcinomas.

Adenoma↗

Coordinated upregulation of oxidative pathways and downregulation of lipid biosynthesis underlie obesity resistance in perilipin knockout mice: a microarray gene expression profile.

Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. We previously reported that the inactivation of the gene for perilipin (plin), an adipocyte lipid droplet surface protein, produced lean and obesity-resistant mice. To dissect the underlying mechanisms involved, we used oligonucleotide microarrays to analyze the gene-expression profile of white adipose tissue (WAT), liver, heart, skeletal muscle, and kidney of plin(-/-) and plin(+/+) mice. As compared with wild-type littermates, the WAT of plin(-/-) mice had 270 and 543 transcripts that were significantly up- or downregulated. There was a coordinated upregulation of genes involved in beta-oxidation, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain concomitant with a downregulation of genes involved in lipid biosynthesis. There was also a significant downregulation of the stearoyl CoA desaturase-1 gene, which has been associated with obesity resistance. Thus, in response to the constitutive activation of lipolysis associated with absence of perilipin, WAT activated pathways to rid itself of the products of lipolysis and activated pathways of energy expenditure that contribute to the observed obesity resistance. The biochemical pathways involved in obesity resistance in plin(-/-) mice identified in this study may represent potential targets for the treatment of obesity.

Adipose Tissue↗

Identification of progression markers in B-CLL by gene expression profiling.

OBJECTIVE: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a heterogeneous disease with a pronounced variation in the clinical course. With the purpose of identifying genes that could be related to disease progression, we have performed gene expression profiling on B-CLL patients with an indolent disease and patients with a progressive disease with need for therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: we applied the Affymetrix GeneChip technique to 11 B-CLL patients with stable and 10 patients with clinically progressive disease. Supervised and unsupervised clustering methods with different algorithms were used to identify genes that tend to give a distinction between stable and progressive disease. RESULTS: The supervised learning procedures identified groups of genes with a combined power to discriminate samples from progressive and stable disease with 70-90% accuracy. The gene for protein phosphatase 2 regulatory subunit B' (B56) gamma isoform (PPP2R5C) and the gene for retinoblastoma-like 2 (p130) (RBL2) were included among the best discriminators; both genes were downregulated in progressive as compared to stable B-CLL. In a hierarchical clustering analysis based on gene expression pattern three clinical subcategories could be identified: one with a more severe clinical outcome, a second one with good prognosis, and a third one that was intermediate between the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our application of microarray analysis on a clinically well defined material has identified a number of genes with combined expression patterns related to stable or progressive disease in general. Unsupervised clustering suggested the existence of subclasses of samples in the progressive group that may be identifiable through gene expression patterns.

Aged↗

Gene expression profiling identifies potential relevant genes in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma pathogenesis and discriminates PAX3-FKHR positive and negative tumors.

We analyzed the expression signatures of 14 tumor biopsies from children affected by alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) to identify genes correlating to biological features of this tumor. Seven of these patients were positive for the PAX3-FKHR fusion gene and 7 were negative. We used a cDNA platform containing a large majority of probes derived from muscle tissues. The comparison of transcription profiles of tumor samples with fetal skeletal muscle identified 171 differentially expressed genes common to all ARMS patients. The functional classification analysis of altered genes led to the identification of a group of transcripts (LGALS1, BIN1) that may be relevant for the tumorigenic processes. The muscle-specific microarray platform was able to distinguish PAX3-FKHR positive and negative ARMS through the expression pattern of a limited number of genes (RAC1, CFL1, CCND1, IGFBP2) that might be biologically relevant for the different clinical behavior and aggressiveness of the 2 ARMS subtypes. Expression levels for selected candidate genes were validated by quantitative real-time reverse-transcription PCR.

Adolescent↗

[Gene expression profile of human adenocarcinoma by cDNA microarray and clustering].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the gene expression profile of human gastric adenocarcinoma by means of cDNA microarray and to analyze its biological significance. METHODS: Paired tumor and non-tumor specimens from 18 cases of advanced gastric adenocarcinoma were studied. Total RNA was isolated and labeled by reverse transcription reaction with cy5 and cy3 for cDNA probe. cDNA microarrays containing 148 genes were hybridized with labeled cDNA probe. Data from cDNA microarray experiments were analyzed by average-linkage hierarchical clustering and significance analysis of microarrays (SAM). RESULTS: Eighteen tumor and non-tumor specimens were clearly divided by clustering analysis. Three features of gene expression profile were found in gastric adenocarcinoma and non-tumor tissues. The profile of differential gene expression in tumor and non-tumor tissues was mainly shown in feature B and feature C. In gastric adenocarcinoma tissues, the expression of genes in feature B was lower and that in feature C was higher. The profile of differential gene expression among gastric adenocarcinoma tissues was found in feature A. In feature A, the profile of similar gene expression was found in paired tumor and non-tumor tissues from 13 patients. SAM analysis showed that 19 genes in feature B and 12 genes in feature C were of significant difference between tumor and non-tumor specimens. The expression levels of genes related to cell cycle, growth factor, cell adhesion, and matrix remodeling were higher or lower in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues. CONCLUSION: Data from cDNA microarray experiments can clearly distinguish gastric adenocarcinoma from non-tumor tissues. The profiles show that gene expression in gastric adenocarcinomas is both homogeneous and heterogeneous. The homogeneous gene expression profile is found in both tumor and non-tumor tissues from 13 patients, suggesting that some gene aberrance is an early event of carcinogenesis of gastric adenocarcinoma. This study provides not only a new molecular basis for understanding biological properties of gastric adenocarcinoma, but also useful resources for future development of diagnostic and prognostic markers for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Epigenetic down-regulation of CDKN1C/p57KIP2 in pancreatic ductal neoplasms identified by gene expression profiling.

PURPOSE: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas is an increasingly identified precursor to infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma. Although our knowledge of the clinical and pathologic features of IPMNs is increasing, the molecular mechanisms underlying these neoplasms remain poorly understood. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS: To provide further insight into the molecular pathobiology of IPMNs, global expression profiling was done to determine genes that are inactivated/down-regulated in IPMNs using oligonucleotide microarrays (Affymetrix). RESULTS: In total, 300 unique transcripts (217 known genes) were identified as highly underexpressed in 12 IPMNs (<10-fold lower and P < 0.05) compared with five normal pancreatic ductal epithelium samples obtained by laser capture microdissection. The differential expression of a selection of genes was confirmed using reverse-transcription PCR. One of the genes underexpressed at both the transcriptional and protein level in a significant proportion of IPMNs was the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, CDKN1C/p57KIP2. CDKN1C expression was also decreased in many pancreatic cancer cell lines and was restored following treatment with a DNA methylation inhibitor (5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine) or, more potently, with a histone deacetylase inhibitor (trichostatin A). Partial methylation of the CDKN1C promoter CpG island was found in most, but not all, pancreatic cancer cell lines with reduced CDKN1C expression, and was also detectable in IPMNs. Furthermore, a subset of pancreatic cancers showed complete hypomethylation of LIT1, an imprinting control region important for the regulation of CDKN1C expression. Complete hypomethylation in these cancers was the result of deletion of the methylated LIT1 allele at 11p15.5 rather than loss of imprinting. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that CDKN1C is commonly down-regulated in pancreatic ductal neoplasms through a combination of promoter hypermethylation, histone deacetylation, and loss of the maternal allele expressing CDKN1C.

Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous↗

Genome-wide gene expression profiling in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals new targets of abscisic acid and largely impaired gene regulation in the abi1-1 mutant.

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays important regulatory roles in many plant developmental processes including seed dormancy, germination, growth, and stomatal movements. These physiological responses to ABA are in large part brought about by changes in gene expression. To study genome-wide ABA-responsive gene expression we applied massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) to samples from Arabidopsis thaliana wildtype (WT) and abi1-1 mutant seedlings. We identified 1354 genes that are either up- or downregulated following ABA treatment of WT seedlings. Among these ABA-responsive genes, many encode signal transduction components. In addition, we identified novel ABA-responsive gene families including those encoding ribosomal proteins and proteins involved in regulated proteolysis. In the ABA-insensitive mutant abi1-1, ABA regulation of about 84.5% and 6.9% of the identified genes was impaired or strongly diminished, respectively; however, 8.6% of the genes remained appropriately regulated. Compared to other methods of gene expression analysis, the high sensitivity and specificity of MPSS allowed us to identify a large number of ABA-responsive genes in WT Arabidopsis thaliana. The database given in our supplementary material (http://jcs.biologists.org/supplemental) provides researchers with the opportunity to rapidly assess whether genes of interest may be regulated by ABA. Regulation of the majority of the genes by ABA was impaired in the ABA-insensitive mutant abi1-1. However, a subset of genes continued to be appropriately regulated by ABA, which suggests the presence of at least two ABA signaling pathways, only one of which is blocked in abi1-1.

Abscisic Acid↗

Gene expression profiling of human adrenocortical tumors using complementary deoxyribonucleic Acid microarrays identifies several candidate genes as markers of malignancy.

The aim of this study was to identify predictor sets of genes whose over- or underexpression in human sporadic adrenocortical tumors would help to identify malignant vs. benign tumors and to predict postsurgical metastatic recurrence. For this, we analyzed the expression of 230 candidate genes using cDNA microarrays in a series of 57 well-characterized human sporadic adrenocortical tumors (33 adenomas and 24 carcinomas). We identified two clusters of genes (the IGF-II cluster containing eight genes, including IGF-II, and the steroidogenesis cluster containing six genes encoding steroidogenic enzymes plus eight other genes) whose combined levels of expression appeared to be good predictors of malignancy. This predictive value was as strong as that of the pathological score of Weiss. The analysis of the population of carcinomas (13 tumors) for genes whose expression would be strongly different between recurring and nonrecurring tumors allowed identification of 14 genes meeting these criteria. Among these genes, there are probably new markers of tumor evolution that will deserve additional validation on a larger scale. Taken together, these results show that the parallel analysis of the expression levels of a selected group of genes on microgram quantities of tumor RNA (a quantity that can be obtained from fine needle aspirations) appears as a complementary method to histopathology for the diagnosis and prognosis of evolution of adrenocortical carcinomas.

Adolescent↗

Large-scale analysis of gene expression profiles.

The accumulation of DNA microarray data has now made it possible to use gene expression profiles to analyse expression data. A gene expression profile contains the expression data for a given gene over various samples, and can be contrasted with an expression signature, which contains the expression data for a single sample. Gene expression profiles are most revealing when samples are grouped appropriately, either by standard clinical or pathological categories or by categories discovered through cluster analysis techniques. Expression profiles can exist at various levels of abstraction, yielding information across various tissues or across diseases within a particular tissue. Hypothesis tests may be applied to expression profiles on a large scale to identify candidate genes of interest.

Cluster Analysis↗