Association of genes with physiological functions by comparative analysis of pooled expression microarray data.

ABSTRACT: The physiological functions of a tissue in the body are carried out by its complement of expressed genes. Genes that execute a particular function should be more specifically expressed in tissues that perform the function. Given this premise, we mined public microarray expression data to build a database of genes ranked by their specificity of expression in multiple organs. The database permitted the accurate identification of genes and functions known to be specific to individual organs. Next, we used the database to predict transcriptional regulators of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and validated two candidate genes. Based upon hypotheses regarding pathways shared between combinations of BAT or white adipose tissue (WAT) and other organs, we identified genes that met threshold criteria for

SUBMITTER: Chen IB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3546411 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature