Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
Neurobiol Aging. 2011 Feb;32(2):313-26. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.02.009. Epub 2009 Mar 20.
Dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra play crucial roles in movement control and other physiological activities. Degeneration of these neurons is closely associated with Parkinson's disease. However, the molecular identity of nigral DA neurons is not fully understood. To identify nigral DA neuron-enriched genes, we used microarrays to compare the genome-wide gene expression profiles in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned, and control, substantia nigra. We identified a total of 88 unique differentially expressed gene transcripts. The spatial expression patterns of a set of these genes, including Slc10a4, Rit2, F2r, Snx10 and Slc24a3, were validated by in situ hybridization. It was revealed that their expression was highly specific in the substantia nigra. Thus we identified a set of genes that are highly expressed in nigral DA neurons, and may be involved in the maintenance and survival of nigral DA neurons in the adult rat brain. Our study also provides a general approach for profiling cell type-specific gene expression in the mature mammalian brain.
中脑的多巴胺（DA）神经元在运动控制和其他生理活动中起着至关重要的作用。这些神经元的退化与帕金森病密切相关。然而，黑质 DA 神经元的分子特征尚未完全阐明。为了鉴定黑质 DA 神经元特异性表达的基因，我们使用微阵列比较了 6-羟多巴胺损伤和对照的黑质的全基因组基因表达谱。我们总共鉴定出 88 个差异表达的基因转录本。一组基因（包括 Slc10a4、Rit2、F2r、Snx10 和 Slc24a3）的空间表达模式通过原位杂交得到了验证。结果表明，它们在黑质中的表达具有高度特异性。因此，我们鉴定了一组在黑质 DA 神经元中高度表达的基因，这些基因可能参与成年大鼠脑内黑质 DA 神经元的维持和存活。我们的研究还为在成熟哺乳动物脑中分析细胞类型特异性基因表达提供了一种通用方法。
