Systematic analysis of gene expression in human brains before and after death.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Numerous studies have employed microarray techniques to study changes in gene expression in connection with human disease, aging and evolution. The vast majority of human samples available for research are obtained from deceased individuals. This raises questions about how well gene expression patterns in such samples reflect those of living individuals.

Results

Here, we compare gene expression patterns in two human brain regions in postmortem samples and in material collected during surgical intervention. We find that death induces significant expression changes in more than 10% of all expressed genes. These changes are non-randomly distributed with respect to their function. Moreover, we observe similar expression changes due to death in two distinct brain regio

SUBMITTER: Franz H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1414111 | biostudies-literature | 2005

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature