Computer analysis of the data on gene expression in brain cells obtained by microarray tests and high-throughput sequencing

Abstract

The scope of neurobiological studies has been greatly expanded in the last few years. Such expansion is accompanied by the accumulation of a huge body of experimental data on the structure, function and evolution of the nervous system at different hierarchical levels of its organization. High-throughput sequencing technologies and microarrays permit analysis the gene expression for thousands of genes simultaneously taking into account cell location in the brain. In this work methods of gene expression analysis are briefly reviewed in the context of brain research. We have analyzed specific features of genes differentially expressed in brain cells. Some genes overexpressed in brain structures are associated with neurological diseases. A number of exons and active transcripts for genes differentially expressed in brain were calculated. The statistically significant difference in these parameters is shown for genes overexpressed in brain. Examples of such differentially expressed genes associated with neurological diseases are presented.