Microarray analysis in caudal medulla of cattle orally challenged with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Bovine  spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal disorder in cattle characterized by  progressive neurodegeneration of the central nervous system. We investigated  the molecular mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration during prion infection  through the identification of genes that are differentially expressed (DE)  between experimentally infected and non-challenged cattle. Gene expression of  caudal medulla from control and orally infected animals was compared by  microarray analysis using 24,000 bovine oligonucleotides representing 16,846  different genes to identify DE genes associated with BSE disease. In total, 182  DE genes were identified between normal and BSE-infected tissues (>2.0-fold  change, P < 0.01); 81 DE genes had gene ontology functions, which included  synapse function, calcium ion regulation, immune and inflammatory response,  apoptosis, and cytoskeleton organization; 13 of these genes were found to be  involved in 26 different Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)  pathways. The expression of five DE genes associated with synapse function (tachykinin,  synuclein, neuropeptide Y, cocaine, amphetamine-responsive transcript, and  synaptosomal-associated protein 25 kDa) and three DE genes associated with  calcium ion regulation (parvalbumin, visinin-like, and cadherin) was further  validated in the medulla tissue of cattle at different infection times (6, 12,  42, and 45 months post-infection) by qRT-PCR. These data will contribute to a  better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neuropathology in bovine  species.
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. almeidalm@hotmail.com
L M
LM
Almeida
U
U
Basu
J L
JL
Williams
S S
SS
Moore
L L
LL
Guan
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000662:veterinary; D016678:Genome; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000662:veterinary