Biomedical subjects

Sue Sipkovsky

Publications and source records attributed to Sue Sipkovsky.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Bovine mammary gene expression profiling using a cDNA microarray enhanced for mammary-specific transcripts.

A cDNA microarray resource enhanced for transcripts specific to the bovine mammary gland (BMAM) has been developed and used in pilot studies to examine gene expression profiles in the mammary gland. One goal driving development of this resource was to shed some light on the pathways and mechanisms specifically related to bovine mammary gland growth and development. To accomplish this, gene expression patterns from bovine adipose, liver, adrenal, lymph, spleen, thymus, gut, and developing mammary tissue were compared using the BMAM microarray. We have thus identified a putative set of 16 genes being preferentially expressed in developing mammary gland. Another of our long-term goals is to elucidate the genes and pathways associated with bovine lactation and involution and to use these as a model for human mammary gland development as it relates to human breast cancer risks. To begin this process, we conducted a pilot study, comparing gene expression profiles of lactating bovine mammary tissue against nonlactating tissue on the BMAM microarray. Our results have yielded many novel and interesting genes exhibiting differential expression in lactating mammary tissue, including oncogenes (VAV3, C-myc), mediators of apoptosis (Caspase 8), and cell cycle regulators (LASP1).

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Development and testing of a high-density cDNA microarray resource for cattle.

A cDNA microarray resource has been developed with the goal of providing integrated functional genomics resources for cattle. The National Bovine Functional Genomics Consortium's (NBFGC) expressed sequence tag (EST) collection was established in 2001 to develop resources for functional genomics research. The NBFGC EST collection and microarray contains 18,263 unique transcripts, derived from many different tissue types and various physiologically important states within these tissues. The NBFGC microarray has been tested for false-positive rates using self-self hybridizations and was shown to yield robust results in test microarray experiments. A web-accessible database has been established to provide pertinent data related to NBFGC clones, including sequence data, BLAST results, and ontology information. The NBFGC microarray represents the largest cDNA microarray for a livestock species prepared to date and should prove to be a valuable tool in studying genome-wide gene expression in cattle.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Gene expression profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from cattle infected with Mycobacterium paratuberculosis.

A bovine-specific cDNA microarray system containing 721 unique leukocyte expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and amplicons representing known genes was used to compare gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from clinical and subclinical Johne's disease-positive Holstein cows (n = 2 per group). Stimulation of PBMCs from clinically infected cows with Mycobacterium paratuberculosis tended to decrease expression of 83 genes (fold change, >1.5). Of these 83 genes, 16 displayed significant down regulation across both clinical cows (P < 0.1), including genes encoding microspherule protein 1, fibroblast growth factor, and the Lyn B protein kinase. Only eight genes from PBMCs of clinically infected cows exhibited a modest up regulation following stimulation with M. paratuberculosis, including those encoding bovine CD40L, gamma interferon, interleukin-10 (IL-10), and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP) 4. In contrast, stimulation of PBMCs from subclinically infected cows with M. paratuberculosis tended to up regulate expression of 71 genes representing 68 unique transcripts. Of these, 11 genes showed significant up regulation (fold change, >1.5; P < 0.1) across both animals, including those encoding bovine CD40L, several matrix metalloproteinases, and SPARC (secreted protein, acidic and rich in cystine). Repression of gene expression was also observed in PBMCs from the subclinical cows, with 16 genes being significantly down regulated (fold change, >1.5; P < 0.1) across both animals, including those encoding the bovine orthologs of cytochrome oxidase subunit III, IL-1 receptor type I, and fibrinogen-like 2 protein. Only one clone, representing an unknown bovine EST, was similarly down regulated in PBMCs from both the clinical and subclinical cows. Thus, the most prominent change induced by exposure of PBMCs from clinical cows to M. paratuberculosis in vitro tended to be repression of gene expression, while changes in similarly treated PBMCs from subclinical cows was balanced between gene activation and repression. Comparison of gene expression profiles between PBMCs from clinical and uninfected (control) cows stimulated with the general mitogen concanavalin A were highly similar (overall r = 0.84), suggesting that M. paratuberculosis-induced gene repression in clinically infected cow PBMCs was not due to a general failure of the immune response in these animals.

Animals↗