Widespread ectopic expression of olfactory receptor genes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Olfactory receptors (ORs) are the largest gene family in the human genome. Although they are expected to be expressed specifically in olfactory tissues, some ectopic expression has been reported, with special emphasis on sperm and testis. The present study systematically explores the expression patterns of OR genes in a large number of tissues and assesses the potential functional implication of such ectopic expression.

Results

We analyzed the expression of hundreds of human and mouse OR transcripts, via EST and microarray data, in several dozens of human and mouse tissues. Different tissues had specific, relatively small OR gene subsets which had particularly high expression levels. In testis, average expression was not particularly high, and very few highly expr

SUBMITTER: Feldmesser E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1508154 | biostudies-literature | 2006 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature