Transcriptomics of the late gestation ovine fetal brain: modeling the co-expression of immune marker genes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Major changes in gene expression occur in the fetal brain to modulate the function of this organ postnatally. Thus, factors can alter the genomics of the fetal brain, predisposing to neurological disorders later in life. We hypothesized that the physiological dynamics of the immune system transcriptome of the fetal brain during the last stage of gestation will reveal patterns of immune function and development in the developing brain. In this study we applied weighted gene co-expression analysis of microarrays performed on ovine fetal brain samples, to model the changes in gene expression throughout the second half of gestation.

Results

Clusters of co-expressed genes that strongly increase in expression toward the first day of extra-uterine life are related to the

SUBMITTER: Rabaglino MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4253626 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature