Human and Macaque Transcriptomes: A Comparison

Abstract

The initial deciphering of entire genomes from several mammalian species including human, chimpanzee and macaque has now been accomplished and the massive datasets are publicly available in the form of high‐quality draft sequences. As a direct result, the development and commercialization of an ever‐increasing number of sensitive tools to measure global gene expression (the ‘transcriptome’) is providing unique opportunities to evaluate and compare biological systems. One particularly important application is to use tissues derived from macaque models of toxicity and disease to infer responses in their human counterparts. Understanding the similarities and differences in how macaques and humans respond, at the functional genomic level, to perturbations in their environments has significant relevance in biomedical research.

Formaldehyde and Epigenetic Alterations: MicroRNA Changes in the Nasal Epithelium of Nonhuman Primates

“…The use of nonhuman primates as our animal model is advantageous because the nasal gross anatomy and pattern of airflow are similar between nonhuman primates and humans (Harkema et al 2006). Furthermore, there is an extremely high degree of similarity in DNA coding and non-coding sequences between macaques and humans (Walker 2008). …”

“…For the genome-wide analysis, a human miRNA microarray was used because a miRNA microarray is not currently available for nonhuman primates. This array is suitable for these experimental purposes based on the high degree of similarity in DNA sequences, as well as conserved basal gene expression profiles, between humans and cynomolgus macaques (Walker 2008). Baseline human miRNA expression patterns have even been shown to correlate well with cynomolgus macaque miRNA patterns using human miRNA microarrays (Montag et al 2009).…”