Quantification of gene expression patterns to reveal the origins of abnormal morphogenesis.

ABSTRACT: The earliest developmental origins of dysmorphologies are poorly understood in many congenital diseases. They often remain elusive because the first signs of genetic misregulation may initiate as subtle changes in gene expression, which are hard to detect and can be obscured later in development by secondary effects. Here, we develop a method to trace back the origins of phenotypic abnormalities by accurately quantifying the 3D spatial distribution of gene expression domains in developing organs. By applying Geometric Morphometrics to 3D gene expression data obtained by Optical Projection Tomography, we determined that our approach is sensitive enough to find regulatory abnormalities that have never been detected previously. We identified subtle but significant differences in the gene expr

SUBMITTER: Martinez-Abadias N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6199133 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature