An integrated approach for the systematic identification and characterization of heart-enriched genes with unknown functions
High throughput techniques have generated a huge set of biological data, which are deposited in various databases. Efficient exploitation of these databases is often hampered by a lack of appropriate tools, which allow easy and reliable identification of genes that miss functional characterization but are correlated with specific biological conditions (f.e.
organotypic expression).
Results: We have developed a simple algorithm (DGSA = Database-dependent Gene Selection and Analysis) to identify genes with unknown functions involved in organ development concentrating on the heart. Using our approach, we identified a large number of yet uncharacterized genes, which are expressed during heart development.
An initial functional characterization of genes by loss-of-function analysis employing morpholino injections into zebrafish embryos disclosed severe developmental defects indicating a decisive function of selected genes for developmental processes.
Conclusions: We conclude that DGSA is a versatile tool for database mining allowing efficient selection of uncharacterized genes for functional analysis.
Author: Shizuka Uchida, Andre Schneider, Marion Wiesnet, Benno Jungblut, Polina Zarjitskaya, Katharina Jenniches, Karsten GROSSE Kreymborg, Werner Seeger and Thomas Braun
Credits/Source: BMC Genomics 2009, 10:100
Published on: 2009-03-06
Copyright by the authors listed above - made available via BioMedCentral (Open Access). Please
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