Dataset Information

Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains.

ABSTRACT: Little is known about how the human brain differs from that of our closest relatives. To investigate the genetic basis of human specializations in brain organization and cognition, we compared gene expression profiles for the cerebral cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques by using several independent techniques. We identified 169 genes that exhibited expression differences between human and chimpanzee cortex, and 91 were ascribed to the human lineage by using macaques as an outgroup. Surprisingly, most differences between the brains of humans and non-human primates involved up-regulation, with approximately 90% of the genes being more highly expressed in humans. By contrast, in the comparison of human and chimpanzee heart and liver, the numbers of up- and down-regulated genes were nearly identical. Our results indicate that the human brain displays a distinctive pattern of gene expression relative to non-human primates, with higher expression levels for many genes belonging to a wide variety of functional classes. The increased expression of these genes could provide the basis for extensive modifications of cerebral physiology and function in humans and suggests that the human brain is characterized by elevated levels of neuronal activity.

SUBMITTER: Caceres M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC240739 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains.

Cáceres Mario M Lachuer Joel J Zapala Matthew A MA Redmond John C JC Kudo Lili L Geschwind Daniel H DH Lockhart David J DJ Preuss Todd M TM Barlow Carrolee C

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20031013 22

Little is known about how the human brain differs from that of our closest relatives. To investigate the genetic basis of human specializations in brain organization and cognition, we compared gene expression profiles for the cerebral cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques by using several independent techniques. We identified 169 genes that exhibited expression differences between human and chimpanzee cortex, and 91 were ascribed to the human lineage by using macaques as an outgroup ...[more]

PMID: 14557539

Similar Datasets

Project description:Gene expression profiling is an important tool in the development of medical countermeasures against chemical warfare agents (CWAs). Non-human primates (NHPs), specifically the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), the cynomologus macaque (Macaca fascicularis) and the African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops), are vital models in the development of CWA prophylactics, therapeutics, and diagnostics. However, gene expression profiling of these NHPs is complicated by the fact their genomes are not completely sequenced, and that no commercially available oligonucleotide microarrays (genechips) exist. We, therefore, sought to determine whether gene expression profiling of NHPs could be performed using human genechips. Whole blood RNA was isolated from each species and used to generate genechip probes. Hybridization of the NHP samples to human genechips (Affymetrix Human U133 Plus 2.0) resulted in comparable numbers of transcripts detected compared with human samples. Statistical analysis revealed intraspecies reproducibility of genechip quality control metrics; interspecies comparison between NHPs and humans showed little significant difference in the quality and reproducibility of data generated using human genechips. Expression profiles of each species were compared using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering to determine the similarity of the expression profiles within and across the species. The cynomologus group showed the least intraspecies variability, while the human group showed the greatest intraspecies variability. Intraspecies comparison of the expression profiles identified probesets that were reproducibly detected within each species. Each NHP species was found to be dissimilar to humans; the cynomologus group was the most dissimilar. Interspecies comparison of the expression profiles revealed probesets that were reproducibly detected in all species examined. These results show that human genechips can be used for expression profiling of NHP samples and provide a foundation for the development of tools for comparing human and NHP gene expression profiles. Keywords = human Keywords = homo sapien Keywords = blood Keywords = rhesus macaque Keywords = cynomologus macaque Keywords = African green monkey Keywords: parallel sample

Dataset Information

Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains.

Publications

Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets