title: Functional genomic analysis of amniotic fluid cell-free mRNA suggests that oxidative stress is significant in Down syndrome fetuses.
abstract: To characterize the differences between second trimester Down syndrome (DS) and euploid fetuses, we used Affymetrix microarrays to compare gene expression in uncultured amniotic fluid supernatant samples. Functional pathway analysis highlighted the importance of oxidative stress, ion transport, and G protein signaling in the DS fetuses. Further evidence supporting these results was derived by correlating the observed gene expression patterns to those of small molecule drugs via the Connectivity Map. Our results suggest that there are secondary adverse consequences of DS evident in the second trimester, leading to testable hypotheses about possible antenatal therapy for DS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Donna K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Slonim
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Kirby L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Umadevi
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tantravahi
authors.forename: Janet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Zina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jarrah
authors.forename: Diana W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bianchi
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011247:Pregnancy