title: Analysis of Mycobacterium leprae gene expression using DNA microarray.
abstract: Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, does not grow under in vitro condition, making molecular analysis of this bacterium difficult. For this reason, bacteriological information regarding M. leprae gene function is limited compared with other mycobacterium species. In this study, we performed DNA microarray analysis to clarify the RNA expression profile of the Thai53 strain of M. leprae grown in footpads of hypertensive nude rats (SHR/NCrj-rnu). Of 1605 M. leprae genes, 315 showed signal intensity twofold higher than the median. These genes include Acyl-CoA metabolic enzymes and drug metabolic enzymes, which might be related to the virulence of M. leprae. In addition, consecutive RNA expression profile and in silico analyses enabled identification of possible operons within the M. leprae genome. The present results will shed light on M. leprae gene function and further our understanding of the pathogenesis of leprosy.
authors.affiliation: Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akama
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanigawa
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Huhehasi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005528:Foot / Q000382:microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007918:Leprosy / Q000382:microbiology*; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D011923:Rats, Nude