%0 Journal Article
%T Identification of a set of genes showing regionally enriched expression in the mouse brain
%A Cletus A D'Souza
%A Vikramjit Chopra
%A Richard Varhol
%A Yuan-Yun Xie
%A Slavita Bohacec
%A Yongjun Zhao
%A Lisa LC Lee
%A Mikhail Bilenky
%A Elodie Portales-Casamar
%A An He
%A Wyeth W Wasserman
%A Daniel Goldowitz
%A Marco A Marra
%A Robert A Holt
%A Elizabeth M Simpson
%A Steven JM Jones
%J BMC Neuroscience
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2202-9-66
%X We have utilized LongSAGE to identify regionally enriched transcripts in the adult mouse brain. As supplemental strategies, we also performed a meta-analysis of published literature and inspected the Allen Brain Atlas in situ hybridization data. From a set of approximately 30,000 mouse genes, 237 were identified as showing specific or enriched expression in 30 target regions of the mouse brain. GO term over-representation among these genes revealed co-involvement in various aspects of central nervous system development and physiology.Using a multi-faceted expression validation approach, we have identified mouse genes whose human orthologs are good candidates for design of mini-promoters. These mouse genes represent molecular markers in several discrete brain regions/cell-types, which could potentially provide a mechanistic explanation of unique functions performed by each region. This set of markers may also serve as a resource for further studies of gene regulatory elements influencing brain expression.The Pleiades Promoter Project (please see Availability & requirements for more information) addresses two major challenges identified in gene therapy ¨C first, the delivery of DNA to specific cell types to reduce side effects from treating healthy cells and second, controlled delivery of DNA to a specific locus in the genome to avoid insertional mutagenesis. The goal for the project is the generation of human DNA promoters less than 4 kb in length (mini-promoters) that drive gene expression in brain regions important in neurological conditions. To achieve this goal, we have first identified genes with enriched expression in different regions of the adult mouse brain. Regional expression patterns within the brain tend to be conserved between orthologous human and mouse genes [1]. Additionally, as regulatory sequences in tissue-specific genes tend to be highly conserved [2], human mini-promoters are expected to drive regional gene expression in transgenic mice based on
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/9/66