Identification of rat lung--prominent genes by a parallel DNA microarray hybridization.
BACKGROUND
The comparison of organ transcriptomes is an important strategy for understanding gene functions. In the present study, we attempted to identify lung-prominent genes by comparing the normal transcriptomes of rat lung, heart, kidney, liver, spleen, and brain. To increase the efficiency and reproducibility, we first developed a novel parallel hybridization system, in which 6 samples could be hybridized onto a single slide at the same time.


RESULTS
We identified the genes prominently expressed in the lung (147) or co-expressed in lung-heart (23), lung-liver (37), lung-spleen (203), and lung-kidney (98). The known functions of the lung-prominent genes mainly fell into 5 categories: ligand binding, signal transducer, cell communication, development, and metabolism. Real-time PCR confirmed 13 lung-prominent genes, including 5 genes that have not been investigated in the lung, vitamin D-dependent calcium binding protein (Calb3), mitogen activated protein kinase 13 (Mapk13), solute carrier family 29 transporters, member 1 (Slc29a1), corticotropin releasing hormone receptor (Crhr1), and lipocalin 2 (Lcn2).


CONCLUSIONS
The lung-prominent genes identified in this study may provide an important clue for further investigation of pulmonary functions.
Department of Physiological Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA. zhongmi@okstate.edu
Zhongming
Z
Chen
Jiwang
J
Chen
Tingting
T
Weng
Nili
N
Jin
Lin
L
Liu
D000818:Animals; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger