Gene Class expression: analysis tool of Gene Ontology terms with gene expression data

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) technology produces large sets of interesting genes that are difficult to analyze directly. Bioinformatics tools are needed to interpret the functional information in these gene sets. We present an interactive web-based tool, called Gene Class, which allows functional annotation of SAGE data using the Gene Ontology (GO) database. This tool performs searches in the GO database for each SAGE tag, making associations in the selected GO category for a level selected in the hierarchy. This system provides user-friendly data navigation and visualization for mapping SAGE data onto the gene ontology structure. This tool also provides graphical visualization of the percentage of SAGE tags in each GO category, along with confidence intervals and hypothesis testing.     

抵抗素基因表达的调控因素

抵抗素是一种主要由脂肪组织分泌的多肽类激素。它与肥胖、2型糖尿病、胰岛素抵抗等疾病具有相关性,并受多种因素调控。胰岛素和抗糖尿病药物、激素、细胞因子、神经递质、营养与饮食等都参与抵抗素基因表达的调控。对抵抗素的深入研究将有助于了解胰岛素抵抗相关疾病的发病机制,为糖尿病、肥胖等的防治提供实验基础。     

Gene expression profiling of human diseases by serial analysis of gene expression

Until recently, the approach to understanding the molecular basis of complex syndromes such as cancer, coronary artery disease, and diabetes was to study the behavior of individual genes. However, it is generally recognized that expression of a number of genes is coordinated both spatially and temporally and that this coordination changes during the development and progression of diseases. Newly developed functional genomic approaches, such as serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) and DNA microarrays have enabled researchers to determine the expression pattern of thousands of genes simultaneously. One attractive feature of SAGE compared to microarrays is its ability to quantify gene expression without prior sequence information or information about genes that are thought to be expressed. SAGE has been successfully applied to the gene expression profiling of a number of human diseases. In this review, we will first discuss SAGE technique and contrast it to microarray. We will then highlight new biological insights that have emerged from its application to the study of human diseases.     

影响外源基因在巴氏毕赤酵母中表达的因素

要在一种宿主表达系统中成功表达外源蛋白并获得较高产量,必须要较为全面地了解影响其表达的许多因素。影响外源基因在巴氏毕赤酵母中表达的因素主要包括：外源基因的特性、表达框的染色体整合位点和方式、宿主菌的甲醇利用表型、基因剂量、分泌信号、产物稳定性和翻译后修饰等。本文就这些因素进行分析,并提出一定的对策和建议。     

Functional independence of circadian clocks that regulate plant gene expression

BACKGROUND: Circadian clocks regulate the gene expression, metabolism and behaviour of most eukaryotes, controlling an orderly succession of physiological processes that are synchronised with the environmental day/night cycle. Central circadian pacemakers that control animal behaviour are located in the brains of insects and rodents, but the location of such a pacemaker has not been determined in plants. Peripheral plant and animal tissues also maintain circadian rhythms when isolated in culture, indicating that these tissues contain circadian clocks. The degree of autonomy that the multiple, peripheral circadian clocks have in the intact organism is unclear. RESULTS: We used the bioluminescent luciferase reporter gene to monitor rhythmic expression from three promoters in transgenic Arabidopsis and tobacco plants. The rhythmic expression of a single gene could be set at up to three phases in different anatomical locations of a single plant, by applying light/dark treatments to restricted tissue areas. The initial phases were stably maintained after the entraining treatments ended, indicating that the circadian oscillators in intact plants are autonomous. This result held for all the vegetative plant organs and for promoters expressed in all major cell types. The rhythms of one organ were unaffected by entrainment of the rest of the plant, indicating that phase-resetting signals are also autonomous. CONCLUSIONS: Higher plants contain a spatial array of autonomous circadian clocks that regulate gene expression without a localised pacemaker. Circadian timing in plants might be less accurate but more flexible than the vertebrate circadian system.     

Regulation of gene expression by effectors that bind to RNA

Recent studies have revealed several genetic systems in bacteria that use complex RNA structural elements to monitor regulatory signals and control expression of downstream genes. These include RNA thermosensors, in which an inhibitory structure melts at high temperature, and systems where binding of small RNAs or cellular metabolites modulates the structure of the RNA. The remarkable feature of these systems is the ability of the regulatory RNA elements to specifically sense the regulatory signal, without accessory components, and convey that information to the gene expression machinery via a structural change in the nascent RNA.     

基因芯片技术与基因表达谱研究

基因芯片技术是近年来出现的分子生物学与微电子技术相结合的最新DNA分析检测技术,该技术将成为信息科学与生命科学之间的联系纽带,为后基因组时代基因功能的分析提供一种最重要的技术手段,目前基因芯片技术已在基因表达谱等研究中得到广泛应用。     

Gene expression profiling of cranial sensory ganglia that transmit food intake stimuli

Peripheral cranial sensory nerves projecting into the oral cavity receive food intake stimuli and transmit sensory signals to the central nervous system. They are derived from four cranial sensory ganglia, trigeminal, geniculate, petrosal, and nodose ganglia, each of which contains multiple kinds of sensory neurons with different cell morphologies and neuronal properties. We investigated the complex properties of these neurons from the viewpoint of gene expression using DNA microarrays. The 498 genes were selected from a total of 8,740 genes as showing tissue-dependent expression on the microarray by hierarchical cluster analysis, in which several genes known to be differentially expressed in cranial sensory ganglia are included. This suggests that DNA microarray cluster analysis revealed a number of characteristic genes for sensory neurons in these ganglia. Among the selected 498 genes, 44 genes are associated with neurotransmission, such as neuropeptides, their receptors, and vesicle transport, and 26 are ion channels regulating membrane potentials. The identification of a number of genes related directly to neural properties indicates that these sensory ganglia contain heterogeneous types of neurons with different neural properties.