Male Reproductive Tract

DNA Microarray Analysis of Region-Specific Gene Expression in the Mouse Epididymis

Abstract
Microarray analysis was carried out to identify genes with enriched expression in the initial segment region of the mouse epididymis. A 15K clone set developed at the National Institutes for Aging and consisting of ESTs derived from pre- and periimplantation embryos, E12.5 female gonad/mesonephros, and newborn ovary were hybridized with probes generated against the initial segment (epididymal region 1) and the remainder of the epididymis (epididymal regions 2-5). The normalized ratios of the median values for region 1/regions 2-5 from three independent experiments were averaged for each gene/EST using Genespring 5.0 software. The majority of clones showed a ratio of 1.0 suggesting they were expressed at similar levels in all epididymal regions. One hundred twenty-three clones exhibited 2-fold or higher expression in the initial segment including Cres3, prostein, lipocalin 2, ALEX3, synaptotagmin-like 4, erm, and milk fat globule factor, while 216 clones including elafin-like 1, lactotransferrin, Sin3B, zinc finger protein 91, and membrane-type frizzled-related protein showed 2-fold or higher expression in epididymal regions 2-5. Northern blot analyses of 12 clones predicted by micorarray to be either initial segment enriched (n=8), epididymal regions 2-5 enriched (n=2), or similar in all regions (n=2) were carried out. All clones exhibited the expected region-specific expression thus confirming the microarray studies. The studies presented here show a global survey of region-specific gene expression in the epididymis identifying 15,287 sequences, the majority of which have not previously been shown to be expressed in this organ.

Key words: Male Reproductive Tract • Epididymis

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