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Transcriptional Noise in Intact and Tgf-Beta Treated Human Kidney Cells; the Importance of Time-Series Designs Publisher Pubmed

Summary: Study finds fluctuating gene expression in kidney cells under TGF-β. Why does noise matter in gene studies? #GeneExpression #KidneyHealth

Rabieian R1 ; Moein S1 ; Khanahmad H1 ; Mortazavi M2 ; Gheisari Y1, 3
Authors

Source: Cell Biology International Published:2018


Abstract

The transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling pathway plays a key role in various cellular processes. However, insufficient knowledge about the complex and sometimes paradoxical functions of this pathway hinders its therapeutic targeting. In this study, the transcriptional profile of seven mediators and downstream elements of the TGF-β pathway were assessed in TGF-β treated and untreated human kidney derived cells for 2 weeks in a time course manner. As expected the up-regulation of ACTA2 and COL1A2 was evident in the treated cells. However, we observed remarkable fluctuations in gene expression, even in the supposedly steady states. The magnitude of noise was diverse in the examined genes. Our findings underscore the significance of time-course designs for gene expression analyses and clearly show that misleading data can be obtained in single point measurements. Furthermore, we propose specific considerations in the interpretation of time-course data in the context of noisy gene expression. © 2018 International Federation for Cell Biology