Gene expression profiling in ischemic brain injury and ischemic tolerance

Abstract

Potent endogenous mechanisms of neuroprotection are encoded in the genome, and the expression of a subset of these genes helps to determine whether cells survive ischemia. A genomic approach may identify and characterize these genes and the neuroprotective pathways through which their protein products operate. Identification of gene products that are endogenous neuroprotectants contributes significantly to our understanding of the pathophysiology of ischemic neuronal injury and would point the way toward new therapeutic approaches to stroke and related disorders such as traumatic brain injury. Here we review a strategy for discovering neuroprotective genes in ischemia by the use of mouse models of ischemic tolerance and microarray analysis to identify genes that are transcriptionally regulated in tolerance. We provide Affymetrix microarray analysis of an ischemic tolerance data set and review in detail the approach to genomic screening. © 2007 Springer-Verlag US.