In vivo filtering of in vitro expression data reveals MyoD targets.

A published set of downstream targets of MyoD defined in a well-controlled in vitro experiment was filtered for relevance to muscle regeneration using a 27-time-point in vivo murine regeneration series. Using interactive hierarchical and Bayes soft clustering, only a minority of the targets defined in vitro can be confirmed in vivo (approximately 50% of induced transcripts, and none of repressed transcripts). This approach provided strong support that 18 targets including of MyoD are biologically relevant during myoblast differentiation.