title: Cross-species application of cDNA microarrays to profile gene expression using UV-induced melanoma in Monodelphis domestica as the model system.
abstract: This study established the utility of cross-species application of the cDNA microarray technique for investigating differential gene expression. Using both total RNA and mRNA samples recovered from two opossum cell lines derived from UVB-induced melanoma, we analyzed expression of ca. 4400 genes on the human DermArray DNA microarrays. The signals generated on the DermArrays were clear, strong, and reproducible. A cDNA dot blot consisting of differentially expressed genes representative of different functional clusters was used to validate the DermArray results. We also cloned a Monodelphis gene, keratin 18 (KRT18), and characterized its expression patterns in tumor samples of different progression stages. Up-regulated expression was observed for the KRT18 gene in advanced melanomas, a finding consistent with the DermArray analysis. These results provide evidence that cross-species application of cDNA microarrays is a useful strategy for investigating gene expression patterns in animal models for which species-specific cDNA microarrays are not available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, 7620 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78227-5301, USA. zwang@darwin.sfbr.org
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Dooley
authors.forename: Ernest V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Curto
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: VandeBerg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000235:genetics; D008545:Melanoma / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000235:genetics*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D009893:Opossums; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012313:RNA; D007633:Keratins