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Systematic analysis of gene expression patterns associated with postmortem interval in human tissues.

ABSTRACT: Postmortem mRNA degradation is considered to be the major concern in gene expression research utilizing human postmortem tissues. A key factor in this process is the postmortem interval (PMI), which is defined as the interval between death and sample collection. However, global patterns of postmortem mRNA degradation at individual gene levels across diverse human tissues remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed a systematic analysis of alteration of gene expression associated with PMI in human tissues. From the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database, we evaluated gene expression levels of 2,016 high-quality postmortem samples from 316 donors of European descent, with PMI ranging from 1 to 27?hours. We found that PMI-related mRNA degradation is tissue-specific, gene-specific, and even genotype-dependent, thus drawing a more comprehensive picture of PMI-associated gene expression across diverse human tissues. Additionally, we also identified 266 differentially variable (DV) genes, such as DEFB4B and IFNG, whose expression is significantly dispersed between short PMI (S-PMI) and long PMI (L-PMI) groups. In summary, our analyses provide a comprehensive profile of PMI-associated gene expression, which will help interpret gene expression patterns in the evaluation of postmortem tissues.

SUBMITTER: Zhu Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5511187 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Systematic analysis of gene expression patterns associated with postmortem interval in human tissues.

Zhu Yizhang Y Wang Likun L Yin Yuxin Y Yang Ence E

Scientific reports 20170714 1

Postmortem mRNA degradation is considered to be the major concern in gene expression research utilizing human postmortem tissues. A key factor in this process is the postmortem interval (PMI), which is defined as the interval between death and sample collection. However, global patterns of postmortem mRNA degradation at individual gene levels across diverse human tissues remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed a systematic analysis of alteration of gene expression associated with PMI ...[more]

PMID: 28710439

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Project description:Attempts to establish a tissue bank from autopsy samples have led to uncovering of the secrets of many diseases. Here, we examined the length of time that the RNA from postmortem tissues is available for microarray analysis and reported the gene expression profile for up- and down-regulated genes during the postmortem interval (PMI). We extracted RNA from fresh-frozen (FF) and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) brains and livers of three different groups of mice: 1) mice immediately after death, 2) mice that were stored at room temperature for 3 h after death, and 3) mice that were stored at 4Â°C for 18 h after death, as this storage resembles the human autopsy process in Japan. Based on the microarray analysis, we selected genes that were altered by >1.3-fold or <0.77-fold and classified these genes using hierarchical cluster analysis following DAVID (database for annotation, visualization, and integrated discovery) gene ontology analysis. These studies revealed that cytoskeleton-related genes were enriched in the set of up-regulated genes, while serine protease inhibitors were enriched in the set of down-regulated genes. Interestingly, although the RNA quality was maintained, up-regulated genes were not validated by quantitative PCR, suggesting that these genes may become fragmented or modified by an unknown mechanism. We extracted RNA from fresh-frozen (FF) brains and livers from mice under three different conditions: 1) mice just after death as a control, 2) mice that were stored at room temperature for 3 h after death, and 3) mice that were stored at 4Â°C for 18 h after death to resemble the human autopsy process. We also created formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks at the same time using mouse organs obtained under the three conditions described above. We then purified RNA from the FFPE tissue blocks. Furthermore, we performed microarray analysis to examine changes in the gene expression profiles during the postmortem interval in FF samples and to compare ene expression profiles between FF and FFPE samples at three different postmortem times as described for the FF samples.

Dataset Information

Systematic analysis of gene expression patterns associated with postmortem interval in human tissues.

Publications

Systematic analysis of gene expression patterns associated with postmortem interval in human tissues.

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