Gene Expression Profiling of Rat Cerebral Cortex Development Using cDNA Microarrays

Abstract

A large amount of genetic information is devoted to brain development. In this study, the cortical development in rats at eight developmental time points (four embryonic [E15, E16, E18, E20] and four postnatal [P0, P7, P14, P21]) was studied using a rat brain 10K cDNA microarray. Significant differential expression was observed in 467 of the 9,805 genes represented on the microarray. Two major Gene Ontology classes-cell differentiation and cell-cell signaling-were found to be important for cortical development. Genes for ribosomal proteins, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins, and tubulin proteins were up-regulated in the embryonic stage, coincidently with extensive proliferation of neural precursor cells as the major component of the cerebral cortex. Genes related to neurogenesis, including neurite regeneration, neuron development, and synaptic transmission, were more active in adulthood, when the cerebral cortex reached maturity. The many developmentally modulated genes identified by this approach will facilitate further studies of cortical functions.

Gene expression patterns in the hippocampus and amygdala of endogenous depression and chronic stress models

“…Many of these genes have shown matching directional changes by unpredictable chronic mild stress, and these include: Col1a1 , tissue plasminogen activator, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2, amyloid beta precursor protein and transthyretin in the amygdala and/or hippocampus. 39, 73 In addition, stress has previously been found to increase the expression of amyloid beta precursor protein 74, 75 and neuropeptide Y. 76, 77, 78 Our findings, however, also implicate a number of novel ‘stress genes'.…”

MiDReG: A method of mining developmentally regulated genes using Boolean implications

“…Current methods such as genetic and biochemical experiments to identify developmentally regulated genes are time-consuming, costly, and technically challenging. Array-based approaches examining differential expression between populations are expensive, require highly pure starting populations, and are narrow in scope, as only gene expression levels among the arrayed populations are compared (1)(2)(3)(4). Thus, when intermediate steps are unknown for a particular cellular differentiation pathway, the identification of genes that are developmentally regulated in that pathway can be difficult.…”