Comparative Analysis of Gene-Expression Patterns in Human and African Great Ape Cultured Fibroblasts

  1. Mazen W. Karaman1,
  2. Marlys L. Houck2,
  3. Leona G. Chemnick2,
  4. Shailender Nagpal1,
  5. Daniel Chawannakul1,
  6. Dominick Sudano3,
  7. Brian L. Pike1,
  8. Vincent V. Ho1,
  9. Oliver A. Ryder2, and
  10. Joseph G. Hacia1,4
  1. 1 The Institute for Genetic Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
  2. 2 Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, California 92112, USA
  3. 3 National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA

Abstract

Although much is known about genetic variation in human and African great ape (chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla) genomes, substantially less is known about variation in gene-expression profiles within and among these species. This information is necessary for defining transcriptional regulatory networks that contribute to complex phenotypes unique to humans or the African great apes. We took a systematic approach to this problem by investigating gene-expression profiles in well-defined cell populations from humans, bonobos, and gorillas. By comparing these profiles from 18 human and 21 African great ape primary fibroblast cell lines, we found that gene-expression patterns could predict the species, but not the age, of the fibroblast donor. Several differentially expressed genes among human and African great ape fibroblasts involved the extracellular matrix, metabolic pathways, signal transduction, stress responses, as well as inherited overgrowth and neurological disorders. These gene-expression patterns could represent molecular adaptations that influenced the development of species-specific traits in humans and the African great apes.

Footnotes

  • [Supplemental material, including formatted gene-expression data, is available online at www.genome.org and http://lichad.usc.edu/supplement/index.html. The gene expression data from this study have been submitted to GEO under accession nos. GSE426–GSE429.]

  • Article and publication are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.1289803.

  • ↵4 Corresponding author. E-MAIL hacia{at}usc.edu; FAX (323) 442-2764.

    • Accepted May 6, 2003.
    • Received February 24, 2003.
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  1. doi: 10.1101/gr.1289803 Genome Res. 13: 1619-1630 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

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