title: Serial analysis of gene expression in the chicken otocyst.
abstract: The inner ear arises from multipotent placodal precursors that are gradually committed to the otic fate and further differentiate into all inner ear cell types, with the exception of a few immigrating neural crest-derived cells. The otocyst plays a pivotal role during inner ear development: otic progenitor cells sub-compartmentalize into non-sensory and prosensory domains, giving rise to individual vestibular and auditory organs and their associated ganglia. The genes and pathways underlying this progressive subdivision and differentiation process are not entirely known. The goal of this study was to identify a comprehensive set of genes expressed in the chicken otocyst using the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) method. Our analysis revealed several hundred transcriptional regulators, potential signaling proteins, and receptors. We identified a substantial collection of genes that were previously known in the context of inner ear development, but we also found many new candidate genes, such as SOX4, SOX5, SOX7, SOX8, SOX11, and SOX18, which previously were not known to be expressed in the developing inner ear. Despite its limitation of not being all-inclusive, the generated otocyst SAGE library is a practical bioinformatics tool to study otocyst gene expression and to identify candidate genes for developmental studies.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and Molecular & Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5739, USA.
authors.forename: Saku T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Sinkkonen
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Starlinger
authors.forename: Deepa J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Galaiya
authors.forename: Roman D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Laske
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Myllykangas
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors