Advancing the Scientific Potential of Transcriptomics in Aquatic Models

描述（由申请人提供）：人类疾病通常涉及基因表达时间和水平的变化，转录组学研究的过程，每个表达基因的鉴定及其转录水平。研究人类变异与基因表达改变之间的关系，可以对疾病状态有更深入的机制理解，并可以提出治疗建议。一条有希望的发现途径是对水生物种中常见人类疾病的新模型进行转录组学分析，目前存在的基因组资源很少。测序技术的突破为非模式生物的转录组学研究打开了大门。正如2010年9月“实现水生模型中转录组学的科学潜力”研讨会上所详述的那样，目前有几个障碍阻碍了这些工具在水生模型系统中的成功使用。该项目的目标是通过开发必要的协议和工具来克服这些障碍，使研究人员能够利用DNA测序技术的最新进展，更好地对水生医学模型进行转录组分析。该项目将为人类疾病水生模型的转录组分析制定最佳的实验室方案、分析理论和计算软件，并将帮助研究人员计划和分析实验结果。协议和工具将通过银河网络平台提供，作为易于使用的计算软件界面和基于网络的教程。由于许多研究水生非模式生物的研究人员缺乏最新的测序设备和高通量转录组学分析的计算专业知识，因此将为水生模式生物研究人员开发使用俄勒冈大学高通量测序设备的机制。同样，许多研究人员缺乏足够强大的计算机集群来执行现代转录组学的计算需求，因此该项目将增加俄勒冈大学运行的计算管道的可用性。因此，该项目将提供广泛需要的工具，增加进展障碍，并改进水生医学模型中转录组分析的方法和技术，从而促进我们对基因调控在健康和疾病中的作用的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human disease often involves changes in the timing and level of gene expression, processes investigated by transcriptomics, the identification of each expressed gene and its transcriptional levels. Studies of the association of human variation with altered gene expression can lead to a deeper, mechanistic understanding of disease states and can suggest therapies. A promising route to discovery is the transcriptomic analysis of novel models of common human diseases in aquatic species for which few genomic resources presently exist. Breakthroughs in sequencing technologies have opened the door for transcriptomics in non-model organisms. As detailed at the Sept. 2010 workshop 'Realizing the Scientific Potential of Transcriptomics in Aquatic Models', several impediments currently hinder the successful use of these tools in aquatic model systems. The goal of this project is to overcome these barriers by developing the protocols and tools necessary for researchers to capitalize on recent advances in DNA sequencing technology to better perform transcriptome analyses on aquatic medical models. This project will develop optimal laboratory protocols, analytical theory and computational software for transcriptome analyses of aquatic models of human disease and will help researchers plan and analyze experimental results. Protocols and tools will be made available via the Galaxy web platform as easy-to-use interfaces for computational software and web-based tutorials. Because many researchers working with aquatic non-model organisms lack access to the latest sequencing facilities and computational expertise for the analysis of high throughput transcriptomics, mechanisms will be developed for aquatic model organism researchers to use the Univ. of Oregon High Throughput Sequencing Facility. Similarly, many researchers lack access to computer clusters sufficiently powerful to execute the computational demands of modern transcriptomics, so this project will increase the availability of computational pipelines running at the Univ. of Oregon. This project will therefore provide widely needed tools, raise barriers to progress, and improve methods and technologies for transcriptome analysis in aquatic medical models, thus advancing our understanding of the role of gene regulation in health and disease.