A systematic analysis of genomic changes in Tg2576 mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by intelligence decline, behavioral disorders and cognitive disability. The purpose of this study was to investigate gene expression in AD, based on published microarray data on Tg2576 mice. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Gene Ontology were employed to group genes together on the basis of their product characteristics and annotation data. Genes with prominent alterations were clustered into apoptosis and axon guidance pathways. Based on our findings and those of previous studies, we propose that the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway plays a crucial role in the neuronal loss and synaptic dysfunction associated with AD. Furthermore, based on the findings of Positional Gene Enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment analysis, we propose that the regulation of transcription of AD genes may be an important pathogenic factor in this neurodegenerative disease. Our results highlight the importance of genes that could subsequently be examined for their potential as prognostic markers for AD.