What is Transcriptomics?
Transcriptomics is the study of the RNA in a cell, and of differential gene expression [1]. The use of transcriptomics is beneficial when looking into a specific gene of interest in the context of disease as it allows for the understanding of how target genes may affect other gene functions in the body. Techniques for studying the transcriptome include both Microarray and RNA sequencing [2]. Additionally, outputs from transcriptomics research can lead to discoveries in the tissue type and cell type that a particular gene and its products are most active.
Results
Figure 1: The Human Protein Atlas [3] - Tissue specificity of VWF RNA expression
Figure 2: The Human Protein Atlas [3]- Cell type specificity of VWF RNA expression
Discussion
VWF RNA expression is quite varietal between tissue types, with connective and soft tissue as well as muscle tissues amongst the highest expression levels. This is not surprising, as the connective tissues in the blood vessel wall are what are known to be areas of collagen binding for VWF upon vascular injury. Additionally, the blood vessel wall is made up of endothelial cells, so the significant expression of VWF RNA in endothelial cells is expected as well [4]. Interesting, adipocytes are of even higher RNA expression of VWF, which may serve as a possible route for further research to link fatty tissue to VWF function.
References:
[1] Liang, K.-H. (n.d.). Transcriptomics. In Bioinformatics for Biomedical Science and Clinical Applications. essay, Woodhead Publishing .
[2] Biorender
[3] Human Protein Atlas. (n.d.). Tissue expression of VWF - summary - the human protein atlas. https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000110799-VWF/tissue
[4] Alberts, B. (1970, January 1). Blood vessels and Endothelial Cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26848/#:~:text=Endothelial%20Cells%20Line%20All%20Blood%20Vessels&text=In%20the%20finest%20branches%20of,%E2%80%94but%20functionally%20important%E2%80%94pericytes.
[1] Liang, K.-H. (n.d.). Transcriptomics. In Bioinformatics for Biomedical Science and Clinical Applications. essay, Woodhead Publishing .
[2] Biorender
[3] Human Protein Atlas. (n.d.). Tissue expression of VWF - summary - the human protein atlas. https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000110799-VWF/tissue
[4] Alberts, B. (1970, January 1). Blood vessels and Endothelial Cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26848/#:~:text=Endothelial%20Cells%20Line%20All%20Blood%20Vessels&text=In%20the%20finest%20branches%20of,%E2%80%94but%20functionally%20important%E2%80%94pericytes.
This web page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 564, a capstone course at UW-Madison.
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