Expression Profile of 1,000 mRNAs from Rat Retina

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Backgrounds & Aims : Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of new-onset blindness among diabetic adults that is characterized by increased vascular permeability, tissue ischemia, and neovascularization. To clarify the molecular mechanism responsible in the pathogenesis, it is important to understand the entire transcriptome of the retina tissue of multiple organisms. Methods : Since the genes responsible for the development of diabetic retinopathy might also be expressed in pancreatic β cells and play a crucial role in the regulation of insulin secretion, we compared the sequences with those identified in rat pancreatic islets after removal of house-keeping genes. Results : In the present study, we isolated and analyzed 1,000 cDNA sequences from rat retina as expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Nucleotide and peptide database searches found that 390 of the sequences represented known rat genes and an additional 266 sequences corresponded to ESTs identified in other tissues or cells. 141 of the sequences were not related to any of the sequences deposited in the databases. Conclusions : 123 commonly expressed genes were identified in the two tissues, all of which should be useful in studies of the development diabetes mellitus and retinal complications and possible therapeutic targets.