Satb1 ablation alters temporal expression of immediate early genes and reduces dendritic spine density during postnatal brain development

Complex behaviors, such as learning and memory, are associated with rapid changes in gene expression of neurons and subsequent formation of new synaptic connections. However, how external signals are processed to drive specific changes in gene expression is largely unknown. We found that the genome organizer protein Satb1 is highly expressed in mature neurons, primarily in the cerebral cortex, dentate hilus, and amygdala. In Satb1-null mice, cortical layer morphology was normal. However, in postnatal Satb1-null cortical pyramidal neurons, we found a substantial decrease in the density of dendritic spines, which play critical roles in synaptic transmission and plasticity. Further, we found that in the cerebral cortex, Satb1 binds to genomic loci of multiple immediate early genes (IEGs) (Fos, Fosb, Egr1, Egr2, Arc, and Bdnf) and other key neuronal genes, many of which have been implicated in synaptic plasticity. Loss of Satb1 resulted in greatly alters timing and expression levels of these IEGs during early postnatal cerebral cortical development and also upon stimulation in cortical organotypic cultures. These data indicate that Satb1 is required for proper temporal dynamics of IEG expression. Based on these findings, we propose that Satb1 plays a critical role in cortical neurons to facilitate neuronal plasticity.     

Microarray analysis of gene expression during early adipocyte differentiation

The molecular mechanisms that regulate cellular differentiation during development and throughout life are complex. It is now recognized that precise patterns of differentially expressed genes ultimately direct a particular cell toward a given lineage and many of these are regulated during the earliest stages of differentiation. Using a microarray-based expression analysis, we have examined gene expression profiles during the first 24 h of 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation. RNA was isolated at times 0, 2, 8, 16, and 24 h following stimulation of differentiation and hybridized in duplicate to high density Affymetrix microarray gene chips containing a series of 13,179 cDNA/expressed sequence tag (EST) probe sets. Two hundred and eighty-five cDNA/ESTs were shown to have at least a fivefold change in expression levels during this time course and both hierarchical and self-organizing map clustering analysis was performed to categorize them by expression profiles. Several genes known to be regulated during this time period were confirmed and Western blot analysis of the proteins encoded by some of the identified genes revealed expression profiles similar to their mRNA counterparts. As expected, many of the genes identified have not been examined in such a critical time period during adipogenesis and may well represent novel adipogenic mediators.     

Assessing visual requirements for social context-dependent activation of the songbird song system

Social context has been shown to have a profound influence on brain activation in a wide range of vertebrate species. Best studied in songbirds, when males sing undirected song, the level of neural activity and expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) in several song nuclei is dramatically higher or lower than when they sing directed song to other birds, particularly females. This differential social context-dependent activation is independent of auditory input and is not simply dependent on the motor act of singing. These findings suggested that the critical sensory modality driving social context-dependent differences in the brain could be visual cues. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining IEG activation in song nuclei in hemispheres to which visual input was normal or blocked. We found that covering one eye blocked visually induced IEG expression throughout both contralateral visual pathways of the brain, and reduced activation of the contralateral ventral tegmental area, a non-visual midbrain motivation-related area affected by social context. However, blocking visual input had no effect on the social context-dependent activation of the contralateral song nuclei during female-directed singing. Our findings suggest that individual sensory modalities are not direct driving forces for the social context differences in song nuclei during singing. Rather, these social context differences in brain activation appear to depend more on the general sense that another individual is present.     

利用功能分类基因芯片研究不同品种猪脂肪中特定基因的发育性变化

利用Oligo功能分类基因芯片检测了瘦肉型的长白猪和脂肪型的太湖猪在1、2、3、4和5月龄间背部皮下脂肪中脂肪沉积代谢和细胞生长调控相关基因的动态表达变化。差异表达分析结果显示1~5月龄的品种间分别有10、6、11、8和19个基因的表达差异倍数大于2倍, 且长白猪有25个基因在不同月龄间的表达差异达显著水平(P<0.05)。其中血管生成素样蛋白4 (ANGPTL4)、组织蛋白酶K (CTSK) 、异柠檬酸脱氢酶2(NADP+) (IDH2)、脂蛋白脂酶 (LPL)、苹果酸酶1 (ME1)、 硬酯酰辅酶A去饱和酶 (SCD)和解藕联蛋白2 (UCP2)这7个基因不仅在同月龄的品种间和品种内的不同月龄间差异表达, 主成分分析结果也显示其表达模式明显偏离其他基因, 提示受到了特殊的调控。聚类分析结果显示1~5月龄间长白猪中正调控脂肪酸代谢基因的表达量逐渐上调, 太湖猪中参与细胞生长调控基因的表达量平缓波动且变化幅度相对较小。另外, 5个差异表达基因的荧光定量RT-PCR验证结果均与芯片结果呈正相关趋势。结果成功筛选出了对猪胴体和肉质性状可能具有重要影响并值得深入研究的一些候选基因, 初步揭示了相关基因的表达变化规律, 为了解生长发育过程中脂肪酸合成与水解的动态平衡过程提供了基础数据。     

Current issues for DNA microarrays: platform comparison, double linear amplification, and universal RNA reference

DNA microarray technology has been widely used to simultaneously determine the expression levels of thousands of genes. A variety of approaches have been used, both in the implementation of this technology and in the analysis of the large amount of expression data. However, several practical issues still have not been resolved in a satisfactory manner, and among the most critical is the lack of agreement in the results obtained in different array platforms. In this study, we present a comparison of several microarray platforms [Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays, custom complementary DNA (cDNA) arrays, and custom oligo arrays printed with oligonucleotides from three different sources] as well as analysis of various methods used for microarray target preparation and the reference design. The results indicate that the pairwise correlations of expression levels between platforms are relative low overall but that the log ratios of the highly expressed genes are strongly correlated, especially between Affymetrix and cDNA arrays. The microarray measurements were compared with quantitative real-time-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) results for 23 genes, and the varying degrees of agreement for each platform were characterized. We have also developed and tested a double amplification method which allows the use of smaller amounts of starting material. The added round of amplification produced reproducible results as compared to the arrays hybridized with single round amplified targets. Finally, the reliability of using a universal RNA reference for two-channel microarrays was tested and the results suggest that comparisons of multiple experimental conditions using the same control can be accurate.