title: Analysis of the dynamics of limb transcriptomes during mouse development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The development of vertebrate limbs has been a traditional system to study fundamental processes at work during ontogenesis, such as the establishment of spatial cellular coordinates, the effect of diffusible morphogenetic molecules or the translation between gene activity and morphogenesis. In addition, limbs are amongst the first targets of malformations in human and they display a huge realm of evolutionary variations within tetrapods, which make them a paradigm to study the regulatory genome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As a reference resource for future biochemical and genetic analyses, we used genome-wide tiling arrays to establish the transcriptomes of mouse limb buds at three different stages, during which major developmental events take place. We compare the three time-points and discuss some aspects of these datasets, for instance related to transcriptome dynamics or to the potential association between active genes and the distribution of intergenic transcriptional activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These datasets provide a valuable resource, either for research projects involving gene expression and regulation in developing mouse limbs, or as examples of tissue-specific, genome-wide transcriptional activities.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale, Station 19, Lausanne, 1215 Switzerland.
authors.forename: Istvan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gyurján
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonderegger
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Naef
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duboule
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005121:Extremities; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018878:Limb Buds / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009024:Morphogenesis; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated