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Physiol. Genomics 16: 222-228, 2004. First published November 18, 2003; doi:10.1152/physiolgenomics.00137.2003
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This Article Free upon publication Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data for: The transcriptional profile of postmortem skeletal muscle All Versions of this Article: 16/2/222    most recent 00137.2003v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sanoudou, D. Articles by Beggs, A. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sanoudou, D. Articles by Beggs, A. H.

Transcriptional profile of postmortem skeletal muscle

¹ Genetics Division and Genomics Program, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
² Neurology Department, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
³ Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Autopsy specimens are often used in molecular biological studies of disease pathophysiology. However, few analyses have focused specifically on postmortem changes in skeletal muscles, and almost all of those investigate protein or metabolic changes. Although some structural and enzymatic changes have been described, the sequence of transcriptional events associated with these remains unclear. We analyzed a series of new and preexisting human skeletal muscle data sets on 12,500 genes and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) generated by the Affymetrix U95Av2 GeneChips from seven autopsy and seven surgical specimens. Remarkably, postmortem specimens (up to 46 h) revealed a significant and prominent upregulation of transcripts involved with protein biosynthesis. Additional upregulated transcripts are associated with cellular responses to oxidative stress, hypoxia, and ischemia; however, only a subset of genes in these pathways was affected. Overexpression was also seen for apoptosis-related, cell cycle regulation/arrest-related, and signal transduction-related genes. No major gene expression differences were seen between autopsy specimens with <20-h and 34- to 46-h postmortem intervals or between pediatric and adult cases. These data demonstrate that, likely in response to hypoxia and oxidative stress, skeletal muscle undergoes a highly active transcriptional, and possibly, translational phase during the initial 46-h postmortem interval. Knowledge of these changes is important for proper interpretation of gene expression studies utilizing autopsy specimens.

autopsy; surgical; microarrays; gene expression

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