This web page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 677, an Undergraduate course at UW-Madison

DNA Microarray

DNA microarrays are used as a tool to measure changes in expression levels. Although there are many different types of microarrays and uses for them, microarrays are always used as a way to compare mutated data to a control. This specific study in cultured skin fibroblasts by Yao et al. was found in an online Microarray database called GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus).(1) In this study, a microarray was used to compare Marfan Syndrome patients with known Fibrillin-1 defects to a set of control patients with no mutated Fibrillin-1. The top 15 genes were identified by ratio from the array data set  (including the top six down regulated and nine up regulated genes).  Of the most affected down regulated genes, I am interested most in Collagen and Elastin as they also play a large role in connective tissues. The level of Collagen and Elastin are significantly lower in Marfan Syndrome patients. I would like to further study the linkage of these two proteins and how they interact with Fibrillin-1 to cause problems in the connective tissues through the human body. (2)

Figure 1. DNA microarray of unaffected controls and Patients with Fibrillin-1 mutations (MFS patients)

Figure 2. GEO profile of Elastin showing significant decrease in expression in MFS patients (in green)

Figure 3. GEO profile of Collagen, type II, alpha 1 showing significant decrease in MFS patients (in green

References

(1) GEO http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/
(2) Yao et al. A Marfan syndrome gene expression phenotype in cultured skin fibroblasts. BMC Genomics 2007.

Gabrielle Waclawik
[email protected]
May 13, 2010
www.gen677.weebly.com