Microarray-bioinformatics analysis of altered genomic expression profiles between human fetal and infant myocardium.
BACKGROUND
The physiological differences between fetal and postnatal heart have been well characterized at the cellular level. However, the genetic mechanisms governing and regulating these differences have only been partially elucidated. Elucidation of the differentially expressed genes profile before and after birth has never been systematically proposed and analyzed.


METHODS
The human oligonucleotide microarray and bioinformatics analysis approaches were applied to isolate and classify the differentially expressed genes between fetal and infant cardiac tissue samples. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to confirm the results from the microarray.


RESULTS
Two hundred and forty-two differentially expressed genes were discovered and classified into 13 categories, including genes related to energy metabolism, myocyte hyperplasia, development, muscle contraction, protein synthesis and degradation, extracellular matrix components, transcription factors, apoptosis, signal pathway molecules, organelle organization and several other biological processes. Moreover, 95 genes were identified which had not previously been reported to be expressed in the heart.


CONCLUSIONS
The study systematically analyzed the alteration of the gene expression profile between the human fetal and infant myocardium. A number of genes were discovered which had not been reported to be expressed in the heart. The data provided insight into the physical development mechanisms of the heart before and after birth.
Kong
Bo
B
Pediatric Cardiac Center, Cardiovascular Institute and Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China. kongbo1980@yahoo.com.cn
Liu
Ying-long
YL
Lü
Xiao-dong
XD
D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D015894:Genome, Human / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction