| [ Summary ] |
The characterization of differentially expressed genes provides a powerful tool for identifying molecules that may be involved in the pathogenesis of disease. To identify overexpressed transcripts in bile duct cells from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), we have used suppressive subtractive hybridization to compare mRNA from isolated PBC bile duct epithelial cells (BECs) to normal BECs. We identified 71 clones as transcribed at higher levels in PBC-BECs. Amongst these clones, 62/71 had matches in a non-redundant nucleotide database and 9/71 had matches in an EST database. Of the 62 clones, 4/62 were identified as interstitial collagenase and collagenase precursors, 4/62 as ribosomal proteins; 3/62 as mitochondrial DNA. The resting 51/62 genes include a complex of genes involved in cell proliferation, signal transduction, transcription regulation, RNA processing, carbohydrate metabolism and hypothetical/unknown proteins. It is of interest to detect genes knownto be involved in an oncogenic process, such as Rad51C, DEME-6 and Wnt-13. Further studies are needed to focus on the significance of these genes during the natural history of PBC. |