We are pleased to announce that we have added the transcriptional profiling
data of the rat epididymis after efferent duct ligation from the paper
Differential Gene Expression among the Proximal Segments of the Rat Epididymis Is Lost after Efferent Duct Ligation by Terry T. Turner and colleagues.
From the abstract:
In the present study 15 day, unilateral
efferent duct ligation (EDL) was used to deprive ipsilateral rat epididymes of
lumicrine regulation. Segments 1-4 of EDL epididymes and contralateral,
sham-operated tissues were collected individually. Microarray analysis of gene
expression was used to determine the effect of lumicrine factor deprivation on
the transcriptome-wide gene expression of each segment studied. Over 11,000
genes were detected as being expressed in each of the 4 segments examined.
Over 2,000 genes responded significantly to EDL in segment 1, a numberthat
declined in each succeeding segment. In the absence of lumicrine factors, the
4 segments regressed to a transcriptionally undifferentiated state, which was
consistent with a less differentiated histology also seen after EDL.
Interestingly, deprivation of lumicrine factors could stimulate an individuals
gene's expressionin some segments yet suppress it in others. Such results
revela a higher complexity to the regulation of rat epididymal segments than
heretofore appreciated.
These data can be queried for the examination of
segmental expression profiles of individual genes or families of genes. These
data complement the profiling data from the mouse and rat epididymis provided by
Wyeth Research and Dr. Terry Turner of the University of Virginia School of
Medicine, which are already present in the MRG. We hope that this new
resource will assist interested investigators in developing new hypotheses
regarding the cellular and molecular biology of the epididymis and provide new
insights into epididymal function.
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