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Large-scale gene discovery in human airway epithelia reveals novel transcripts
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Large-scale gene discovery in human airway epithelia reveals novel transcripts

Todd E Scheetz, Joseph Zabner, Michael J Welsh, Justin Coco, Mari de Fatima Eyestone, Maria Bonaldo, Tamara Kucaba, Thomas L Casavant, M Bento Soares and Paul B McCray Jr
Physiological genomics, Vol.17(1), pp.69-77
03/12/2004
DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00188.2003
PMID: 14701920

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Abstract

The airway epithelium represents an important barrier between the host and the environment. It is a first site of contact with pathogens, particulates, and other stimuli, and has evolved the means to dynamically respond to these challenges. In an effort to define the transcript profile of airway epithelia, we created and sequenced cDNA libraries from cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF epithelia and from human lung tissue. Sequencing of these libraries produced approximately 53,000 3'-expressed sequence tags (3'-ESTs). From these, a nonredundant UniGene set of more than 19,000 sequences was generated. Despite the relatively small contribution of airway epithelia to the total mass of the lung, focused gene discovery in this tissue yielded novel results. The ESTs included several thousand transcripts (6,416) not previously identified from cDNA sequences as expressed in the lung. Among the abundant transcripts were several genes involved in host defense. Most importantly, the set also included 879 3'-ESTs that appear to be novel sequences not previously represented in the National Center for Biotechnology Information UniGene collection. This UniGene set should be useful for studies of pulmonary diseases involving the airway epithelium including cystic fibrosis, respiratory infections and asthma. It also provides a reagent for large-scale expression profiling.
Fetus Respiratory System - pathology Epithelial Cells - metabolism Epithelial Cells - chemistry Humans DNA, Complementary - genetics Epithelium - chemistry Lung - chemistry Gene Expression Profiling Lung - cytology Respiratory System - cytology Organ Specificity - genetics Cloning, Molecular - methods Adult Expressed Sequence Tags Computational Biology - methods Epithelium - pathology Lung - pathology Epithelium - metabolism Gene Library Cells, Cultured Computational Biology - statistics & numerical data Open Reading Frames - genetics Gestational Age Sequence Analysis, DNA Respiratory System - chemistry Respiratory System - metabolism Cystic Fibrosis - genetics Lung - embryology Epithelium - physiology Cluster Analysis

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