Shima James E, McLean Derek J, McCarrey John R, Griswold Michael D
Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
Biol Reprod. 2004 Jul;71(1):319-30. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.103.026880. Epub 2004 Mar 17.
One of the most promising applications of microarrays is the study of changes in gene expression associated with the growth and development of mammalian tissues. The testis provides an excellent model to determine the ability of microarrays to effectively characterize the changes in gene expression as an organ develops from birth to adulthood. To this end, a developmental testis gene expression time course profiling the expression patterns of approximately 36 000 transcripts on the Affymetrix MGU74v2 GeneChip platform at 11 distinct time points was created to gain a greater understanding of the molecular changes necessary for and elicited by the development of the testis. Additionally, gene expression profiles of isolated testicular cell types were created that can aid in the further characterization of the specific functional actions of each cell type in the testis. Statistical analysis of the data revealed 11 252 transcripts (9846 unique) expressed differentially in a significant manner. Subsequent cluster analysis produced five distinct expressional patterns within the time course. These patterns of expression are present at distinct chronological periods during testis development and often share similarities with cell-specific expression profiles. Analysis of cell-specific expression patterns produced unique and characteristic groups of transcripts that provide greater insight into the activities, biological and chronological, of testicular cell types during the progression of spermatogenesis. Further analysis of this time course can provide a distinct and more definitive view into the genes implicated, known and unknown, in the maturation, maintenance, and function of the testis and the integrated process of spermatogenesis.
微阵列最有前景的应用之一是研究与哺乳动物组织生长和发育相关的基因表达变化。睾丸为确定微阵列有效表征器官从出生到成年发育过程中基因表达变化的能力提供了一个绝佳模型。为此，构建了一个睾丸发育基因表达时间进程，在Affymetrix MGU74v2基因芯片平台上于11个不同时间点对约36000个转录本的表达模式进行分析，以更深入了解睾丸发育所必需的以及由其引发的分子变化。此外，还构建了分离的睾丸细胞类型的基因表达谱，这有助于进一步表征睾丸中每种细胞类型的特定功能作用。对数据的统计分析显示，有11252个转录本（9846个独特转录本）以显著方式差异表达。随后的聚类分析在时间进程中产生了五种不同的表达模式。这些表达模式出现在睾丸发育的不同时间阶段，并且常常与细胞特异性表达谱具有相似性。对细胞特异性表达模式的分析产生了独特且具有特征性的转录本群体，这为深入了解精子发生过程中睾丸细胞类型的生物学和时间活动提供了更多信息。对这个时间进程的进一步分析可以为涉及睾丸成熟、维持和功能以及精子发生综合过程的已知和未知基因提供一个独特且更明确的视角。
