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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2000, p. 1901-1908, Vol. 38, No. 5
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Technical Assessment of the Affymetrix Yeast Expression GeneChip
YE6100 Platform in a Heterologous Model of Genes That Confer
Resistance to Antimalarial Drugs in Yeast
Martin E.
Nau,1
Lyndal R.
Emerson,2
Rodger K.
Martin,3
Dennis E.
Kyle,3
Dyann F.
Wirth,2 and
Maryanne
Vahey4,*
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military
Medicine, Rockville, Maryland1;
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard
School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts2;
and Division of Experimental
Therapeutics3 and Division of
Retrovirology,4 Walter Reed Army Institute
of Research, Washington, D.C.
Received 4 January 2000/Returned for modification 17 February
2000/Accepted 24 February 2000
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ABSTRACT |
The advent of high-density gene array technology has revolutionized
approaches to drug design, development, and characterization. At the
laboratory level, the efficient, consistent, and dependable exploitation of this complex technology requires the stringent standardization of protocols and data analysis platforms. The Affymetrix YE6100 expression GeneChip platform was evaluated for its
performance in the analysis of both global (6,000 yeast genes) and
targeted (three pleiotropic multidrug resistance genes of the ATP
binding cassette transporter family) gene expression in a heterologous
yeast model system in the presence and absence of the antimalarial drug
chloroquine. Critical to the generation of consistent data from this
platform are issues involving the preparation of the specimen, use of
appropriate controls, accurate assessment of experiment variance,
strict adherence to optimized enzymatic and hybridization protocols,
and use of sophisticated bioinformatics tools for data analysis.
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INTRODUCTION |
A universal challenge to drug
therapy is the development of drug resistance. Efforts to understand
the molecular mechanisms of the emergence of resistance to drugs span
the fields of infectious disease, cancer, and toxicology. The
eventuality of drug resistance necessitates the ongoing development of
new drugs and interventions. A decade of research has identified a
class of genes associated with multidrug resistance (8, 9).
The multidrug resistance genes (mdr genes) are part of the
ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes in mammalian cells (4, 7, 10). To facilitate the detection of drug resistance and to expedite the development of new drugs, several in vitro model
systems have been developed that examine the activity of mdr
and ABC transporters. One such system is the heterologous yeast model
in which the genes PDR5, PDR10, and
SNQ2, members of the pleiotropic drug resistance
(pdr) family in yeast, have been associated with drug
resistance (2, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18). Observations that
there may be 30 or more genes in yeast that are related by sequence
homology to the ABC transporter gene family complicate the association
of drug resistance with a particular gene (3). The
Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome sequencing project revealed
31 ABC genes, which have been classified into six distinct subfamilies
based on phylogenetic analysis (3, 7, 14, 19, 20). The
pdr family is the largest of these subgroups, with 10 members. In total there are 12 ABC genes that have been associated with
modulation of resistance to xenobiotics to date. The PDR5
gene has been linked to resistance to cycloheximide, mycotoxins, and
cerulenin, and its product has been found to transport glucocorticoids
(2, 3, 4, 10, 13). A second member of the pdr
group, SNQ2, has been found to be linked to resistance to
4-nitrosoquinoline-N-oxide, methyl-nitro-nitrosoguanidine, and metal ions such as Na+, Li+, and
Mn+ (3, 16, 18). The
snq2
pdr5 deletion strain exhibits a more pronounced
sensitivity to metal ions and other drug substrates (3).
PDR10 is closely related to PDR5 (65% sequence
identity); however, the functional relatedness of these genes remains
to be determined. Interestingly, PDR10 has been found to
localize to the cell surface like PDR5 and SNQ2
(3, 9).
With the introduction of the Affymetrix yeast expression GeneChip
YE6100 platform (YE6100 platform), it has become feasible to plan
experiments to simultaneously assess the changes in the expression
patterns of not only the pleiotropic drug resistance gene family but
also 6,000 yeast genes (5). Previously, Wodicka et al., at
Affymetrix, characterized the basic performance characteristics of a
prototype for the YE6100 platform to generate a global survey of 6,000 yeast genes (22). This platform was refined and exploited by
Cho et al. to survey the complete yeast genome (6). Holstege et al., using an elegant battery of controls, exploited the
commercially available YE6100 platform to assess the transcriptional
control of yeast cell division (11). Winzeler et al. used a
customized gene array platform for direct allelic scanning of the
entire yeast genome (21).
To test the practical potential of the commercially available YE6100
platform to address drug resistance, a well-defined heterologous yeast
model system was chosen. The expression profiles of two strains of
S. cerevisiae were evaluated in the presence and absence of
the antimalarial drug chloroquine. Strain YPH 499 (499) is wild type
and refractory to the drug chloroquine. Strain YHW 1052 (1052) is a
mutant with deletions in the PDR5, PDR10, and
SNQ2 genes and is thus more susceptible to chloroquine. The
aim of this paper is to detail the technical aspects of the utilization of the YE6100 platform that are critical to the generation of consistent and reliable gene expression data in the study of drug resistance. The implementation of the methods and protocols presented in this paper will facilitate more intensive efforts to elucidate the
details of the molecular interactions involved in the emergence of drug
resistance. Two levels of data analysis, the global assessment of
functional gene families and the targeted assessment of particular genes, will be addressed to demonstrate the type of information gleaned
from each.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Strains and media.
The strains, 1052 and 499, used in this
study were the kind gifts of Karl Kuchler of The University and
Biocenter of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. The yeast strain 1052 (
pdr5::TR1
snq2::hisG
pdr10::hisG) was utilized for this study
along with its isogenic parental strain 499 (MATa
ade2-101cc his3
200 leu2-
1 lys2-801am trp1-
1 ura3-52). Strain 1052 is deficient in three ABC
transporters encoded in the pdr pathway (PDR5,
PDR10, and SNQ2). In strain 1052, the deletion in
PDR5 is from nucleotide (nt) +399 through nt +4456. The
deletion in PDR10 is from nt
90 through nt +4307. The
deletion in SNQ2 is from nt
6 through nt +3899. The 50%
inhibitory concentrations of the drug chloroquine are 127 mg/ml for 499 and 50.00 mg/ml for 1052 as determined in nonaerated liquid medium and
in solid medium culture. In liquid culture the 50% inhibitory concentrations of the drug chloroquine are 4.75 ± 0.75 mg/ml for 499 and 1.38 ± 0.13 mg/ml for 1052. Starter cultures were taken from colonies lifted from freshly streaked agar plates and grown overnight (to confluence at 2 × 108 cells/ml) at
30°C and 300 rpm in 5 to 10 ml of yeast-peptone-dextrose medium. The
5- to 10-ml starter cultures were diluted into 1,200 ml of prewarmed
and aerated yeast-peptone-dextrose medium in a 4-liter flask to a
density of 1.5 × 106 cells/ml. Cultures were grown at
30°C and 300 rpm for 2 h or until the cell density reached
3.0 × 106 cells/ml. At this juncture the culture was
split into two 600-ml aliquots in two prewarmed 2-liter flasks.
Chloroquine was added to the treatment flask to a concentration of 1.5 or 2.5 mg/ml from a 200-mg/ml concentrated stock of chloroquine
diphosphate salt (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.) dissolved in sterile
double-distilled water. This solution had a pH of approximately 4.0. An
exact volume of sterile double-distilled water, adjusted to the pH of
the chloroquine solution, was added to the control flask. Table
1 shows the cell densities from critical
points in the growth and treatment of the cultures used in the study.
The assay points in the study are defined as early (2 h with or without
1.5 mg of drug per ml), middle (3 h, with or without 2.5 mg of drug per
ml), and late (4.5 h, with or without 2.5 mg of drug per ml).
Cell harvesting and preparation of poly(A) RNA.
Cultures
were harvested identically at three time points: 2, 3, and 4.5 h.
It is imperative that all cultures be treated exactly the same during
the harvesting procedure. The overnight yeast culture was dispensed
into 12 50-ml polypropylene conical tubes (Falcon/Becton Dickinson
Labware, Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and centrifuged in a clinical centrifuge
for 5 min at 4°C and at 2,000 × g. The pellet was
resuspended in 5 ml of Tri-Reagent (Molecular Research Center,
Woodlands, Tex.), and an equal volume of 400-µm-diameter acid-washed
glass beads was added. The mixture was vortexed for 1 min. An
additional 20 ml of Tri-Reagent was added to the mixture, and the
manufacturer's instructions for the preparation of total RNA were
followed. Poly(A) RNA (mRNA) was prepared from total RNA using the
Oligotex (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.) method according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
cDNA synthesis.
Double-stranded cDNA was synthesized in two
steps using the Superscript Choice System (GibcoBRL, Rockville, Md.)
and the reverse transcription primer T7-(dt)24
[5'GGCCAGTGAATTGTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGAGGCGG(T)24 3']
(GENSET Corp., LaJolla, Calif.). First-strand synthesis was carried out in a 20-µl reaction mixture. Approximately 3.0 µg of
mRNA was annealed to 7 µg of T7-(dt)24 primer at 70°C
for 10 min. Reverse transcription was carried out at 37°C for 1 h in a mixture with final concentrations of 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 75 mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl2, 10 mM dithiothreitol, 500 µM each
dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP, and 20,000 to 30,000 U of Superscript II reverse transcriptase per ml, and the reaction was terminated by
placing the tube on ice. Second-strand synthesis was carried out in 150 µl, incorporating the entire 20-µl first-strand reaction mixture
and a 130-µl second-strand reaction mixture for final concentrations
of 25 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 100 mM KCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 10 mM
(NH4)2SO4, 0.15 mM
-NAD+, 250 µM each dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP, 1.2 mM
dithiothreitol, 65 U of DNA ligase per ml, 250 U of DNA polymerase I
per ml, and 13 U of RNase H per ml. The mixture was incubated at 16°C
for 2 h, whereupon 2 µl of T4 DNA polymerase at 5 U/µl was
added and the incubation was continued at 16°C for 5 min. To
terminate the reaction, 10 µl of 0.5 M EDTA was added. The cDNA was
purified using phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (24:23:1) saturated
with 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0)-1 mM EDTA (AMBION, Inc., Austin, Tex.). The purified cDNA was precipitated with 5 M ammonium acetate and absolute ethanol at
20°C for 20 min. The pellet was resuspended in
7 to 9 µl of RNase-free water to achieve a final concentration of
between 0.25 and 0.65 µg/µl.
In vitro transcription and fluorescent labeling.
Synthesis
of biotin-labeled cRNA was carried out by in vitro transcription using
the MEGAscript T7 In Vitro Transcription Kit (AMBION, Inc.).
According to the manufacturer's instructions, 0.4 to 1.0 µg of
double-stranded cDNA was placed in a 20-µl reaction mix, at room
temperature, containing Ambion 1× reaction buffer and enzyme mix
(proprietary). The labeling mix consisted of 7.5 mM ATP, 7.5 mM GTP,
5.6 mM UTP, 1.9 mM biotinylated UTP (ENZO Diagnostics, Farmingdale,
N.Y.), 5.6 mM CTP, and 1.9 mM biotinylated CTP (ENZO). The reaction
mixture was incubated at 37°C for 5 h. The biotin-labeled cRNA
was purified using RNeasy spin columns (Qiagen) according to the
manufacturer's protocol. The biotin-labeled cRNA was fragmented in a
40-µl reaction mixture containing 40 mM Tris-acetate (pH 8.1), 100 mM
potassium acetate, and 30 mM magnesium acetate, incubated at 94°C for
35 min, and then put on ice. One microliter of the intact
biotin-labeled cRNA and 2 µl of the fragmented sample were run on a
1% agarose gel to evaluate both the yield and size distribution of the
intact and fragmented products.
Hybridization, staining, and scanning of the GeneChip.
The
biotin-labeled and fragmented cRNA was hybridized to the YE6100 Yeast
GeneChip array (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.) according to the
manufacturer's instructions. Briefly, a 220-µl hybridization
solution of 1 M NaCl, 10 mM Tris (pH 7.6), 0.005% Triton X-100, 50 pM
control oligonucleotide B2 (5' bioGTCAAGATGCTACCGTTCAG 3')
(Affymetrix), control cRNA (Bio B [150 pM], Bio C [500 pM], Bio D [2.5 nM], and Cre X [10 nM]) (American Type Tissue
Collection, Manassas, Va., and Lofstrand Labs, Gaithersburg, Md.), 0.1 mg of herring sperm DNA per ml, and 0.05 µg of the fragmented labeled sample cRNA per µl was heated to 95°C, cooled to 40°C, and
clarified by centrifugation before being applied to each of the four
subarrays (A, B, C, and D) that comprise the YE6100 Yeast GeneChip
platform. Hybridization was at 40°C in a rotisserie hybridization
oven (model 320; Affymetrix) at 60 rpm for 16 h. Following
hybridization, the GeneChip arrays were washed 10 times at 25°C with
6× SSPE-T buffer (1 M NaCl, 0.006 M EDTA, 0.06 M
Na3PO4, 0.005% Triton X-100, pH 7.6) using the
automated fluidics station protocol. GeneChip arrays were incubated at
50°C in 0.5× SSPE-T for 20 min at 60 rpm in the rotisserie oven and
then stained for 15 min room temperature and 60 rpm with streptavidin
phycoerythrin (Molecular Probes, Inc., Eugene, Oreg.) stain solution at
a final concentration of 10 µg/ml in 6× SSPE-T buffer and 1.0 mg of
acetylated bovine serum albumin (Sigma) per ml. The GeneChip arrays
were washed twice at room temperature with 6× SSPE-T buffer and then
scanned with a GeneArray Scanner (Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara,
Calif.), controlled by GeneChip 3.1 software (Affymetrix).
Assay monitoring and controls.
The TEST 1 GeneChip
(Affymetrix) was used according to the manufacturer's instructions to
assess critical features of the mRNA preparations and the cDNA
generated from the yeast strains and to evaluate the stringency of
staining and hybridization. In addition, a battery of three types of
GeneChip controls present on the TEST 1 GeneChip and on each of the
four arrays in the YE6100 GeneChip set were employed according to the
manufacturer's instructions. Details of the use and performance of
these critical controls are given in Results. A method of mathematical
scaling was employed by the GeneChip 3.1 software (Affymetrix) to
normalize the fluorescence signal from each probe cell on each GeneChip
and thus facilitate the reliable comparison of data from independent experiments.
Data analysis algorithm for the assessment of variance.
The
Affymetrix raw data set was scrutinized to eliminate any transcripts
with fewer than 50% of probe cells contributing to the data.
Subsequently, the first step in raw data mining for the assessment of
variance captured all gene transcripts that were present on both
GeneChips being compared (PP data set). The second step required that a
decision be made to define what degree of change would be considered
significant. We chose to approach this issue objectively, using a
distribution analysis of the complete PP data set which defined a mean
for the population of values and subsequently determined quartile
percentages of 25, 50, and 75% above and below that mean. For the
assessment of variance, outliers were defined as values exceeding the
mean by 10-fold and were eliminated from the data set. When the PP data
set was examined in this way, a value of 3.0-fold was determined to be the cutoff for a reliable change in expression. The value of 3.0-fold was applied to all subsequent analyses. Variances between GeneChips (intraexperimental variance) and between independent mRNA targets (interexperimental variance) were assessed by scoring the percentage of
PP transcripts that exhibit no change relative to the total number of
PP transcripts.
Data analysis algorithm for interrogation.
For experiments
in which differences in expression profiles between the drug-treated
and untreated yeast strains were examined, the data analysis captured
data from genes that were present in both cases (PP data set), as well
as genes present in one case and absent in the other (PA or AP data
set). All values above the 3.0-fold cutoff were included in the
analysis of experimental expression profiles. The experimental design
employed the analysis of data from the untreated control as a baseline
for comparison to the treated strain in all cases. The cumulative fold
change for the expression of all genes in a particular functional
family was the sum of the levels of change of gene expression, using the values for the untreated strain as the control.
Bioinformatics analyses.
GeneSpring version 2.1 (Silicon
Genetics, San Carlos, Calif.) was used to derive global trends in the
expression profiles and to specifically assess the expression patterns
of the pdr gene targets. We used the temporal analysis of
all of the raw data from the Affymetrix platform normalized to a single
mean by the GeneSpring software.
 |
RESULTS |
Consistent cell harvests and mRNA yields.
Table 1 shows the
yields of cells and of mRNA across the three time points of the
experiment and at the two concentrations of chloroquine used in the
study. The amounts of cells harvested were comparable and equivalent at
all time points.
Assessment of GeneChip performance.
A battery of controls was
used for all experiments. Three types of GeneChip controls are present
on the TEST 1 GeneChip and on each of the four GeneChips in the YE6100
set. The first set of controls consists of four synthetically generated
plasmid templates that are subjected to reverse transcription to
incorporate fluorescent label according to the manufacturer's
instructions (Affymetrix). These four cRNA templates, Bio B, Bio C, Bio
D, and Cre X, are mixed in a cocktail to generate final concentrations
of 150 pM, 500 pM, 2.5 nM, and 10 nM, respectively. These
concentrations generate a standard curve and can thus be used to
standardize interexperimental variation and efficiency of cDNA
synthesis and labeling and to provide the dynamic range of the assay.
Ultimately, the standard curve generated by these templates can be used
to quantitate the level of RNA expression for a given gene on a
per-cell basis. The second set of controls used on the GeneChip
assesses the efficiency of cDNA synthesis by quantitating the amounts
of 3' and 5' portions of target sequences generated during cDNA
synthesis by assessing the expression of the yeast actin gene. Optimal
synthesis reactions will generate equivalent amounts of signal in the
3' and 5' prime targets. The third set of GeneChip controls involves the evaluation of the integrity of the mRNA preparation used in the
analysis and reports the GeneChip-based determination of equivalent amounts of mRNA used in the test. This is achieved by the assessment of
the 18S rRNA gene expression profile, which is divided on the GeneChip into five sets of probe cells or segments (a through e).
The results of the analysis of TEST 1 GeneChip controls for two
independent evaluations of strains 499 and 1052 are shown
in Fig.
1. The ordinate indicates the relative
fluorescence intensity
reported by the GeneArray Scanner. The data from
the 18S rRNA
series show less than a twofold range in segment a and no
significant
difference in segment b, c, or d, except for the 1052 data
point,
which is less than onefold lower in segment c. This data set
supports
the hypothesis that equivalent amounts of mRNA were used in
the
cDNA reaction in preparation for GeneChip analysis. Also shown
in
Fig.
1 are the results of the assessment of 3' and 5' segments
of the
actin gene expression. There is no significant difference
between the
fluorescence values for the 3' end of the yeast actin
gene and for the
5' end of the yeast actin gene in this experiment.
This data set
indicates an optimal yield from the cDNA synthesis
reaction. The
manufacturer (Affymetrix) suggests that the yield
of 3' product may
vary by as much as fourfold. In our hands, optimization
of the cDNA
synthesis step routinely yielded less than a 0.5-fold
difference
between 3' and 5' segments.

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FIG. 1.
Performance of the battery of GeneChip controls with two
independent preparations of templates from strains 1052 and 499. The
ordinate shows the relative fluorescence values for each of the control
markers listed on the abcissa. The linear regression
r2 value for the standard curve generated by the
Bio B, Bio C, Bio D, and Cre X markers is 0.86.
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The standard curve generated by the synthetic templates Bio B, Bio C,
Bio D, and Cre X is shown in Fig.
1. The curve has an
r2 value of 0.86 and was remarkably consistent
between strains,
between GeneChips, and for two independent template
preparations.
Table
2 summarizes data on
the performance of the battery of
the three sets of controls that were
generated by between 20 and
40 independent GeneChip assessments. A
descriptive statistical
analysis of the data set shows stringent inter-
and intraexperimental
consistency.
Assessment of assay variance.
Table
3 presents data on the results of two
independent expression profiles for each strain, 499 and 1052, in the
absence of drug. These data were generated using one of the four
GeneChips that comprise the complete YE6100 GeneChip platform
(GeneChips A through D). In each case an independent growth and harvest
of yeast cells followed by an independent preparation of GeneChip-ready template was carried out. Genes were scored as being present in both
sets of data (PP), exhibiting no change in expression between the two
sets of data, having increased or decreased, and, finally, having
increased or decreased by threefold. For strain 1052, the total number
of PP genes was 1,450, of which 32 increased by threefold, 116 decreased by threefold, and 1,302 (89%) remained unchanged, thus
generating a variance between the two runs of 10.2%. For strain 499, the total number of PP genes was 1,439, of which 72 increased by
threefold, 153 decreased by threefold, and 1,214 (84%) remained
unchanged, thus generating a variance between the two runs of 15.6%.
To further reduce these levels of interexperimental variance, the
original culture was split into two cultures and reassessed for
percentage of variance. As a result of splitting the original culture
in this way, rather than growing two side-by-side cultures, the
variance was reduced to zero for both strains, since there were no
genes that changed greater than threefold between the two runs.
Global expression profiles of strains 1052 and 499 in the presence
and absence of chloroquine.
Shown in Fig.
2 and 3 are
the results of a global survey of the 6,000 genes on the YE6100
GeneChip platform as assessed in strains 1052 and 499, respectively, in
the presence and absence of the drug chloroquine and at each of the
three time points and two drug concentrations used in the study. The
control in each case was the value from the strain in the absence of
the drug. Cumulative fold change values for the functional families are arrived at by simple summation of the levels of change from the control
for each gene in a functional family.

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FIG. 2.
Cumulative change of gene expression levels in the
mutant strain 1052 in the presence of chloroquine. The ordinate shows
the cumulative fold changes for the expression levels of genes
categorized by the functional family designation shown on the abcissa.
The functional families are cell cycle and division proteins (CCD),
drug resistance membrane proteins (DRM), kinases (KIN), membrane
proteins (MEM), metabolic pathway proteins (MET), ribosomal proteins
(RIBO), respiratory chain proteins (RSP), synthetic metabolic pathways
(SMP), transcription and translation proteins (TRAN), pathology-related
proteins (PATH), and stress-related proteins (SR). The expression level
of genes in the untreated sample is used to determine the baseline for
the degree of change of gene expression. The profiles for the early
time point, the middle time point, and the late time point are shown.
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FIG. 3.
Cumulative change of gene expression levels in the
wild-type strain 499 in the presence of chloroquine. The ordinate shows
the cumulative fold change for the expression levels of genes
categorized by the functional family designation shown on the abcissa.
The functional families are cell cycle and division proteins (CCD),
drug resistance membrane proteins (DRM), kinases (KIN), membrane
proteins (MEM), metabolic pathway proteins (MET), ribosomal proteins
(RIBO), respiratory chain proteins (RSP), synthetic metabolic pathways
(SMP), transcription and translation proteins (TRAN), pathology-related
proteins (PATH), and stress-related proteins (SR). The expression level
of genes in the untreated sample is used to determine the baseline for
the degree of change of gene expression. The profiles for the early
time point, the middle time point, and the late time point are shown.
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As compared with the middle and late time points, the early time points
for both 1052 and 499 exhibit a lower level of expression,
with some
increase in genes associated with membranes in strain
499. At the
middle time point, however, both strains exhibit an
increase in gene
expression, with few genes showing a decrease.
Genes associated with
membranes, metabolism, and ribosomes showed
the most increase in strain
1052 at the middle time point. The
levels of the cumulative increase in
expression were 2- to 10-fold
higher in strain 499 at the middle time
point. Increases in the
expression of genes associated with membranes,
metabolism, and
ribosomes were similar in pattern but greater in
magnitude to
the changes at this time point in strain 1052. The most
dramatic
change occurred in strain 499 at the middle time point in the
increase in expression of genes associated with synthetic pathways.
In
strain 1052, the late time point data set was dominated by
a large
decrease in the expression of genes associated with membranes.
In
contrast to the case for the two earlier time points, most
expression
levels were reduced in strain 1052 at the late time
point. The
expression of genes in strain 499 was also decreased
at the late time
point compared with the two earlier time points.
The largest decline in
expression was in the genes associated
with translation and
transcription.
Targeted expression profiles of the pdr genes
PDR5, PDR10, and SNQ2 in strains
1052 and 499 in the presence and absence of chloroquine.
Figure
4 shows the expression profiles at three
time points and in the absence or the presence of two different
concentrations of the antimalarial drug chloroquine. The expression of
the gene PDR5 was decreased in the 1052 mutant strain in the
presence and absence of the drug. In contrast, the expression of the
gene PDR10 was increased in strain 1052 in the presence and
the absence of chloroquine. The expression of the gene SNQ2
was moderate but level in strain 1052 in the presence of drug and
moderate with a minor increase in slope in the absence of the drug. The
wild-type strain 499 exhibited an increase in the expression levels of
PDR5 in the presence of drug but not in the absence of drug.
In the absence of drug, the expression of the gene PDR5 was
moderate and level across all time points. The expression levels of
PDR10 and SNQ2 in strain 499 remained low and
level in both the presence and absence of the drug.

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FIG. 4.
Expression profiles of the yeast pdr genes
PRD5, PDR10, and SNQ2. The ordinate
shows the relative fluorescence intensity for (i) each of the study
time points (early [E], middle [M], and late [L]), (ii) the two
experimental treatments (drug treated [T] and untreated [U], and
(iii) each of the two strains (1052 and 499), as shown on the
abcissa.
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DISCUSSION |
Template preparation.
Several approaches to the extraction of
total RNA and the subsequent preparation of mRNA are currently
available. We found that the combination of two commercially
available kits, the Tri-Reagent and Qiagen Oligotex
kits, gave the most dependable results with yeast. The most
critical aspects of the preparation of template for the
Affymetrix GeneChip YE6100 platform are the quality of the mRNA
and the degree to which it is representative of the biological nature of the sample. To ensure a representative sample, it is imperative to standardize the growth and handling of the yeast cultures. Holstege et al. first suggested that the attention to detail
involved in the growth and harvest of yeast cultures for expression
profiling was critical to the dependability of the data generated
(11). We confirm and extend that observation by emphasizing
the added importance of standardizing the treatment of these strains
with the drug chloroquine and minimizing experimental variance by
splitting single cultures for drug treatment. It is imperative to
ascertain the phenotypes of the wild-type and mutant strains in the
presence of a drug prior to the characterization of the expression
profiles generated as a result of treatment with that drug.
Quality control and assessment.
The Affymetrix GeneChip YE6100
is exquisitely sensitive and necessitates the use of powerful controls
to assure that all aspects of the procedure are consistent and
reliable. Of the four types of controls available for expression
profiling, using the Affymetrix GeneChip YE6100, we chose to apply
three. The only control that we did not utilize involved the addition
of synthetic total RNA template to the RNA samples extracted from the
yeast strains. Instead, we chose to use data from the 3' and 5' ends of
the yeast actin gene as a more accurate and less intrusive measure of
the yield, quality, and representative nature of the mRNA. The data generated by these controls result directly from the sample tested and
are not enhanced or quenched by the presence of artificial template.
We have determined that the battery of three controls that we routinely
employ are essential to the interpretation, consistency,
and
reliability of expression profiling experiments. Perhaps the
most
powerful of the sets of controls is the standard curve generated
by the
synthetic templates Bio B, Bio C, Bio D, and Cre X. These
data points
offer the investigator the power to express GeneChip
data on a
semiquantitative level. The 18S ribosomal protein series
and the yeast
actin 3' and 5' end targets provide critical information
on the
preparation of the RNA and on the representative quality
of the cDNA
subsequently produced. The fact that all of these
controls reside on
each GeneChip further supports and ensures
the generation of dependable
data both within and between experiments.
Most importantly, remarkably
low levels of intraexperimental variance
can be achieved, despite the
enormous number of complex steps
involved in generating an expression
profile, by faithful attention
to optimized laboratory protocols and by
the vigilant use of the
battery of GeneChip
controls.
Interpretation of GeneChip expression profiles.
We employed a
well-characterized heterologous yeast model to assess the impact of the
drug chloroquine on the yeast pdr genes PDR5,
PDR10, and SNQ2. We assessed the expression
profile data on two levels: (i) the global analysis of cumulative
changes in expression of genes classified into broad functional
families and (ii) the targeted expression analysis of the three
pdr genes across the three time points and two drug
concentrations used in the study. Jelinsky and colleagues used the
global assessment of expression profiles to assess changes in gene
expression in yeast in response to alkylating agents (12).
Alon and colleagues employed targeted expression and cluster analysis
to define expression patterns in colon tumors (1).
The assessment of the global alterations in expression profiles of
broadly defined functional families in each of the strains
in the
presence of drug clearly identifies that in the mutant,
the functional
family most significantly affected by the drug
is the membrane protein
group. Strain 1052 exhibits a 250-fold
reduction in the cumulative gene
expression in the membrane protein
group. The functional family of drug
resistance-related membrane
proteins is also reduced in cumulative gene
expression by 75-fold.
In contrast to these observations, the wild-type
strain exhibits
an increase in the expression of membrane-associated
proteins
and, most significantly, in proteins involved with the
processes
of transcription and translation. By the late time point, the
wild-type strain exhibits a 100-fold decrease in the expression
of
proteins related to transcription and translation. Clearly
these two
strains respond with distinct strategies to the presence
of drug. The
assessment of the degree of cumulative change in
the expression
profiles of broadly defined functional families
of genes can be readily
made from the data reported by the Affymetrix
GeneChip YE6100 platform.
This information is most useful in suggesting
the focus of further data
mining to elucidate the specifics of
a biological pathway affected by
the
drug.
The GeneSpring bioinformatics platform commercially available from
Silicon Genetics interrogates the Affymetrix GeneChip YE6100
data in a
significantly more powerful way. This tool allows for
the
identification of the patterns and magnitude of expression
of any
single gene assessed by the Affymetrix GeneChip YE6100
over the course
of the study. The expression profile of individual
targeted genes as
well as the patterns or clusters of related
genes can also be
elucidated by the analysis. In the model system
employed in this study,
the promoter region of the
PDR10 gene
was disrupted. An
unchanged or reduced expression of this gene
might be predicted as a
result of this deletion. The expression
profiles derived by GeneSpring
analysis of the
PDR10 gene in the
mutant strain 1052 exhibit
an unexpectedly high level of expression
in both the presence and
absence of chloroquine. Several explanations
for this observation can
be
proposed.
The elevated levels of the mutant
PDR10 gene expression may
reflect the bias of the GeneChip to assess the 3' region of a
gene. It
is important to take into account that the Affymetrix
GeneChip YE6100
platform interrogates 25-mer regions that cover
the last 600 bp of the
3' end of the gene (
5). This region
is distal to the
deletion made at the 5' promoter region of the
PDR10 gene.
Alternatively, there may be a difference in the efficiency
of the
promoter region, or in the stability or rate of turnover
of the gene
product, in the mutant as compared to that of the
intact gene in the
wild-type strain. In the wild-type strain,
there is an increase in the
production of
PDR5 in response to
drug treatment, while the
PDR10 and
SNQ2 expression levels remain
moderate
and unchanged, respectively. This pattern may reflect
the specificity
of the
PDR5 response to the drug chloroquine in
this strain
(
9). In contrast, expression levels of
PDR5 and
SNQ2 in the mutant strain show little or no response to the
presence
of the drug. Mechanistic explanations of the biological
function
of the gene products of
PDR5,
PDR10, and
SNQ2 in the mutant and
wild-type strains warrant further
investigation. These observations
show the complexity of the
interpretation of expression profile
data and underscore the necessity
of ascertaining, by an independent
assessment, information on the
functional status of a gene
target.
In summary, the utilization of optimized laboratory protocols,
monitored by stringent controls, generates a powerful data
set from the
Affymetrix Expression GeneChip platform. The interpretation
of the
patterns and magnitudes of expression profiles represented
in the data
set requires the application of bioinformatics tools
and a fundamental
knowledge of the model being examined. The power
of the method resides
in the sensitivity, accuracy, and speed
with which the expression of
over 6,000 genes in response to experimental
conditions can be
simultaneously assessed. Confirmation of the
trends observed in the
data generated by expression profiling
serves as a point of departure
for further analysis of gene function
and thus of the molecular
mechanisms of drug
action.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
We thank Karl Kuchler for the yeast strains YHW 1052 and YPH 499 used in this study, Anthony Lailin of Silicon Genetics and Brian
Shimada and Mark Hurt of Affymetrix for their technical advice, and
Deborah L. Birx and Nelson L. Michael for helpful discussions.
This work was supported in part by Cooperative Agreement no.
DAMD17-93-V-3004 between the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of
Military Medicine.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Gene Array
Laboratory, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 1600 East Gude Dr., Rockville, MD 20850. Phone: (301) 251-5058. Fax: (301) 762-7460. E-mail: mvahey{at}pasteur.hjf.org.
 |
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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2000, p. 1901-1908, Vol. 38, No. 5
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