PUBLICATION

An integrated approach for the systematic identification and characterization of heart-enriched genes with unknown functions

Authors
Uchida, S., Schneider, A., Wiesnet, M., Jungblut, B., Zarjitskaya, P., Jenniches, K., Kreymborg, K.G., Seeger, W., and Braun, T.
ID
ZDB-PUB-090310-18
Date
2009
Source
BMC Genomics   10: 100 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Jungblut, Benno
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Algorithms*
  • Animals
  • Computational Biology
  • Database Management Systems*
  • Databases, Genetic
  • Gene Expression Profiling/methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Mice
  • Myocardium/metabolism*
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/methods
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics
PubMed
19267916 Full text @ BMC Genomics
Abstract
BACKGROUND: 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.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Show all Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping