DISCOVERY AND ANALYSIS OF INFLAMMATORY DISEASE-RELATED GENES USING CDNA MICROARRAYS

cDNA microarray technology is used to profile complex diseases and dis cover novel disease-related genes, In inflammatory disease such as rhe umatoid arthritis, expression patterns of diverse cell types contribut e to the pathology, We have monitored gene expression in this disease state with a microarray of selected human genes of probable significan ce in inflammation as well as with genes expressed in peripheral human blood cells, Messenger RNA from cultured macrophages, chondrocyte cel l lines, primary chondrocytes, and synoviocytes provided expression pr ofiles for the selected cytokines, chemokines, DNA binding proteins, a nd matrix-degrading metalloproteinases, Comparisons between tissue sam ples of rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease verified t he involvement of many genes and revealed novel participation of the c ytokine interleukin 3, chemokine Gro alpha and the metalloproteinase m atrix metallo-elastase in both diseases, From the peripheral blood lib rary, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1, ferritin light chain, a nd manganese superoxide dismutase genes were identified as expressed d ifferentially in rheumatoid arthritis compared with inflammatory bowel disease, These results successfully demonstrate the use of the cDNA m icroarray system as a general approach for dissecting human diseases.