O papel modulador do gene AIRE - capes

AbstractThe definition of gene expression profiling by cDNA microarrays during murinethymus ontogeny has contributed to dissecting the large-scale moleculargenetics of T cell maturation. Gene profiling, although useful for characterizingthe thymus developmental phases and identifying the differentially expressedgenes, does not permit the determination of possible interactions betweengenes. In order to reconstruct genetic interactions during a murine thymusperiod of development, which is important for thymocyte differentiation (14-17days of gestation), a pair of microarrays was used containing a total of 1,576cDNA sequences derived from the IMAGE MTB library, whose data wereanalyzed using the GeneNetwork program. Characteristic interactions involvinggenes were observed during thymus ontogeny, which were previously identifiedas differentially expressed and once included in a network, showed theirrelationships with several other genes. The present method provided thedetection of gene nodes implicated in the calcium signaling pathway, such asPrr2 and Stxbp3, and in protein transport towards the cell membrane, such asGosr2. The results demonstrate the feasibility of reconstructing networks basedon cDNA microarray gene expression determinations, contributing to a clearerunderstanding of the complex interactions between genes involved inthymus/thymocyte development.Keywords Thymus development, gene expression, microarray, gene networks236