Pathway analysis of microarray gene expression data
QFAB teamed up with Mhoyra Fraser, a researcher from the University of Auckland, NZ who is conducting a study on the maturation of the hormonal feedback loop that controls glucocorticoid levels and how this is disrupted when foetuses are deprived of oxygen or undernourished.
In this study, Mhoyra uses oligonucleotide microarrays to determine the effect of perinatal undernutrition on gene expression in 3 hippocampal subregions of the female offspring from normal and undernourished mothers.
Gene expression analysis included Genespring, GeneGO Metacore, and Ingenuity Pathway analysis. To gain insight into the biological relevance of observed gene expression changes by perinatal undernutrition, genes with at least a 1.5 fold change and p-value less than 0.05 were selected and categorized into biological functions, canonical pathways, and gene networks.
Numerous signalling and general biosynthesis and metabolism pathways including oxidative phosphorylation, amyloid processing, LXR/RXR activation, aminoacyl-tRNA, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, cell cycle and cell death regulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, β-adrenergic and IL-4 signalling pathways were identified as perturbed by perinatal undernutrition.
Systems Biology Case Studies
