Affiliations: Transgenic and Knockout Facility Section, National
Institute on Aging, NIH, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore MD 21224, USA | DNA Array Unit, Research Resources Branch, National
Institute on Aging, NIH, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore MD 21224, USA | Cellular Neurobiology Branch, National Institute on
Drug Abuse, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore MD 21224, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Kevin G. Becker Ph.D, Rm 4-D16, 5600
Nathan Shock Drive, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. Tel: +1 410 558 8360; Fax: +1 410 558 8281; E-mail:
beckerk@grc.nia.nih.gov.
Abstract: EDNA microarrays provide an efficient method to analyze gene
expression patterns in thousands of genes in parallel. In some cases, large
unfocused collections of cDNAs have been used in hybridization studies, in
others small logically defined collections of tissue specific arrays have been
used. Here we describe the bioinformatic selection of 1152 named human cDNAs
specifically designed for neuroscience applications, arrayed on nylon membranes
at high density. cDNAs were chosen which represent all the major cellular types
of the brain including; neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes.
Gene families chosen include cell type specific markers, ion-channels,
transporters, receptors, and cell adhesion molecules among many others. These
arrays were used with region specific samples from human brain to determine
MRNA expression profiles for each region. Used with 33_p labeled complex
probes, this is a low cost, highly sensitive approach for tbc investigator to
focus on tissue specifie genes of interest where sampies of limiting arnounts
of RNA are used. This selected set of brain-rele vant cDNAs should be widely
useful in the analysis of gene expression patterns from brain tissues as well
as neural cell lines.
