Widespread Ectopic Expression of Olfactory Receptor Genes
Author Information
Author(s): Ester Feldmesser, Tsviya Olender, Miriam Khen, Itai Yanai, Ron Ophir, Doron Lancet
Primary Institution: Weizmann Institute of Science
Hypothesis
To what degree are olfactory receptor genes expressed in non-olfactory tissues?
Conclusion
The study found widespread, locus-dependent, and heterogeneous expression of olfactory receptor genes across various tissues, suggesting a neutral evolutionary model for transcription control.
Supporting Evidence
- 371 human olfactory receptor genes and 697 mouse olfactory receptor genes were found to be expressed in various tissues.
- Ectopic expression was observed in non-olfactory tissues such as skin and testis.
- Expression levels were not significantly higher in testis compared to other tissues.
- Human and mouse orthologous olfactory receptor genes showed no correlation in expression levels.
Takeaway
This study looked at how smell-related genes are found in places they usually aren't, like skin and testis, and found that they might not be doing anything special there.
Methodology
The expression of olfactory receptor genes was analyzed using EST and microarray data across multiple human and mouse tissues.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the nature of microarray experiments and the selection of probesets.
Limitations
The study's findings are based on microarray data, which can be noisy and may require further validation.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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