Biology & chemistry term index   Related glossaries include  Drug discovery & Development   Biomarkers   Bioprocessing & manufacturing  Drug discovery & development   Molecular Diagnostics   Molecular Medicine   Proteomics    Informatics Algorithms & data management    Bioinformatics   Information management & interpretation   Technologies Metabolic engineering & profiling   Microarrays & protein arrays   Sequencing
Biology Sequences, DNA & beyond   Functional Genomics   Genomics    -Omes & -omics   Phylogenomics  This Expression glossary seems to have a number of terms which could be synonymous (i.e. expression, gene expression, various profiling terms) Are there subtle differences and/ or ambiguities?

analysis - gene expression: Large- scale methods for analyzing gene expression patterns are needed. The current challenge is to develop and optimize methods for monitoring these and the gene products simultaneously.  What is needed is genomic scale analysis of gene expression.   Related terms: post hoc testing, statistical analysis;  guilt by association Algorithms cluster analysis, pattern recognition;  Microarraysdata analysis, standards

analysis - protein expression: Remarkable advances are taking place in protein expression analysis, but major hurdles still loom ahead. 2D gels must be completely eliminated because they are so cumbersome, and all the steps in protein expression study must become much more easily reproducible and more affordable before they will enable researchers to significantly further our knowledge of protein expression. Another major challenge is to improve quantification of proteins. It is not sufficient to find a protein is expressed; one must also know how much is expressed to be able to identify important patterns.

biological networks:  We are amongst the first groups to describe how many weak functional genomic features could be systematically integrated with data mining techniques to predict protein networks (comprising protein interactions and other functional linkages). Some of the features integrated were obviously related to protein interactions (e.g. expression correlations) but many others such as (e.g. essentiality) were less so. We have had a number of localization and interaction predictions experimentally verified. In more recent work, we were able to calibrate the degree to which the data quality and the specific mining approach is associated with the strength of the predictions. In addition, we have studied the structure of protein networks, both on a large-scale in terms of global statistics (e.g. the diameter) and on a small-scale in terms of local network motifs (e.g. hubs). In particular, we have correlated network hubs with gene essentiality. Most importantly, we were the first to study the dynamics of regulatory networks. This allowed us to discover changing transient hubs and systematic patterns of connectivity rewiring in the yeast regulatory network. We were able to show for the first time that network dramatically changes in different conditions. Gerstein Lab Publications, Yale University, 2007 http://papers.gersteinlab.org/papers/subject/interactions/  

cell- specific gene expression: The essence of multicellularity is the ability to express only certain portions of the genome in particular cells at particular times. This is done by the synthesis and assembly of transcription factors that turn on (and off) specific genes as required. John W. Kimball, Detecting Cell Specific Gene Expression, Kimball's Biology Pages, http://www.biology-pages.info/R/ReporterGenes.html   Google = about 681 Aug. 12, 2002; about 1,660 Aug. 22, 2003; about 5,120 Apr. 27, 2005; about 66,000 June 11, 2007

clinical profiling - gene expression: Gene expression profiling has the potential to be used for differentiating types of cancer (and other diseases) that appear identical to pathologists today. Once the technologies are capable of high throughput and sufficient specificity and reproducibility this will represent significant potential markets for diagnostics, choosing appropriate therapies, and ongoing monitoring.  

conditional gene expression: When gene expression is activated or suppressed at will. 

co-regulation - expression: Correlated change(s) in gene or protein expression

diauxic shift: A shift in gene expression that occurs when cells are transferred from a rich medium to a poorer medium, or when cells in a rich medium grow and deplete their medium of nutrients. 

differential display: A theoretically powerful approach in which researchers use multiplex quantitative reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (QRT- PCR) to amplify – and illuminate – differences in gene expression between healthy and diseased tissue or between treated versus nontreated tissue. ... a single gel can "sample" a significant portion of the expressed complement of genes in a given tissue, under different physiological/ pharmacological conditions.  This technology has not been universally successful and has not gained widespread acceptance due to technical complexities.  Differential display is an attractive approach, because it (a) searches for differences in gene expression in the absence of preconceived biases; and (b) does not require extensive preexisting knowledge concerning genes of interest. As such, this technique is especially useful for identifying novel gene- disease associations.     Related term: RT-PCR  Gene amplification & PCR

Differential Gene Expression DGE: DGE and proteomics are screening technologies that are widely used for target validation. They detect different levels and/or patterns of gene and protein expression in tissues, which may be used to imply a relationship to a disease affecting that tissue … the proof- of- concept experiments to demonstrate that differences in the tissue expression of a particular gene are related to disease expression (two very different meanings to ‘expression’) have not been performed in any common disease with known susceptibility genes. Allen D. Roses” Pharmacogenetics and the practice of medicine” Nature 405: 857- 865 June 15, 2000

An important tool for assembling exons into genes. D. Shoemaker et. al. "Experimental annotation of the human genome using microarray technology" Nature 6822: 925, 15 Feb. 2001

differential protein expression profiling: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jprobs/2006/5/i05/abs/pr050455t.html   7

DNA profiling techniques  Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_profiling  notes "not to be confused with full genome sequencing"  accessed Feb 24 2011 
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Category:DNA_profiling_ techniques

downregulation: A negative regulatory effect on physiological processes at the molecular, cellular, or systemic level. At the molecular level, the major regulatory sites include membrane receptors, genes (GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION), mRNAs (RNA, MESSENGER), and proteins. MeSH, 2002
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downregulation Downregulation and upregulation

EVGs Expression Verified Genes: Co- regulated exons, from Chromosome 22 (the first human chromosome to be completely sequenced) and used as a benchmark for computational and experimental analytical methods. Expression data can define gene boundaries because adjacent exons that are co- regulated across many conditions are likely to be from the same transcript. Hybridization data defining EVGs could be useful to "train" next generation gene prediction algorithms. D. Shoemaker et. al. "Experimental annotation of the human genome using microarray technology" Nature 6822: 922- 927, 15 Feb. 2001 

epigenetic imprinting: A key component of future genomic research and drug development will be the study of epigenetic imprinting (drug- or environment-induced changes in gene expression) indicative of disease and/or pharmacological or environmental exposure.  Google = about  48 Aug. 12, 2002; about 101 Aug. 22, 2003; about 619 June 11, 2007

expression: The cellular production of the protein encoded by a particular gene.  The process includes transcription of DNA, processing of the resulting mRNA product and its translation into an active protein.  N.B. A recombinant gene inserted into a host cell by means of a vector is said to be expressed if the synthesis of the encoded polypeptide can be demonstrated.  IUPAC Bioinorganic, IUPAC Compendium

A description as to how a gene demonstrates a phenotype.  This can range from production of a mRNA to a disease.  If a disease gene carrier shows signs of the disease gene, then that gene is expressed.  Note that an individual must carry the disease gene and be penetrant  for it before the term expression is utilized. [NHLBI]  Narrower terms: gene expression, protein expression, mRNA expression, RNA expression, transcript expression  

expression genomics: Genome-wide expression microarray studies have revealed that the biological and clinical heterogeneity of breast cancer can be partly explained by information embedded within a complex but ordered transcriptional architecture. Comprising this architecture are gene expression networks, or signatures, reflecting biochemical and behavioral properties of tumors that might be harnessed to improve disease subtyping, patient prognosis and prediction of therapeutic response. Miller, Lance D, Liu, Edison T, Expression genomics in breast cancer research: microarrays at the crossroads of biology and medicine Breast Cancer Research 2007, 9:206 doi:10.1186/bcr1662, March 2007 

expression profiling:  In an attempt to avoid expensive late-stage candidate failures, pharmaceutical companies apply increasingly stringent compound characterization and selection processes. Gene expression profiling is becoming increasingly adopted in small molecule drug development programs to characterize pharmacological and toxicological activity.  

Refers to the expression values for a single gene across many experimental conditions, or for many genes under a single condition. In the terminology of cluster format [Algorithms], the first case amounts to looking at a row of the data table, and the second case a column.  Narrower terms: gene expression profiling,  protein expression profiling, transcript profiling.  Related terms: gene expression, molecular indexing, protein expression, RNA expression, transcript expression

expression proteomics:  The ability to measure protein- level changes directly would seem to carry inherent advantages and it seems likely that expression proteomics will be a useful tool in drug target discovery and in studying the effects of various biological stimuli on the cell. Weir & Blackstock “Proteomics” Trends in Biotechnology: 121-134  Mar 1999

Large- scale measurements of protein expression. 

expression systems:  include cell free, transient, microbial, stable cell lines, mammalian cell lines, plants and transgenic animals.

expression technologies: Chromatography & electrophoresis, Gene amplification & PCR  Microarrays have been a breakthrough technology for studying gene expression. 
Narrower terms: differential display, RAGE, SAGE, subtraction cloning, TOGA.

gene clustering: Cluster methods include: finding genes similar to the current selected gene within a "distance" threshold; K-means-like clustering where you specify a seed gene and the number of clusters; and hierarchical clustering with clustergram and dendrogram graphics.  National Cancer Institute, MicroArray Explorer http://www.lecb.ncifcrf.gov/MaeRefMan/hmaeDoc2.4.5.html#clusterPlots   Related terms: Algorithms cluster analysis, hierarchical clustering, k- means clustering, self organizing maps  Google = about 604 Aug. 12, 2002; about 1,630 Aug. 22, 2003

gene expression: The process by which a gene’s coded information is converted into the structures present and operating in the cell.  Expressed genes include those that are transcribed into mRNA and then translated into protein and those that are transcribed into RNA but not translated into protein (e.g. transfer [tRNA] and ribosomal [rRNA] RNAs). DOE

The phenotypic manifestation of a gene or genes by the processes of gene action. MeSH, 1990

The transcription of a gene and its processing to yield a mature messenger RNA (mRNA). (Note that in proteomic studies, the same term also includes the translation of the mRNA to produce a functional protein.) In studies of differential gene expression, one looks for genes whose expression levels differ significantly under different experimental conditions, for example in normal versus diseased states or in untreated versus treated subjects. This application is perhaps the most obvious use of microarrays. 

Our modern concept of gene expression dates back to 1961 when messenger RNA was discovered, the genetic code was deciphered, and the theory of genetic  regulation of protein synthesis was described. [O Ermolaeva et al “Data Management and analysis for gene expression arrays” Nature Genetics 20: 19- 23,1998   
Broader terms: expression, genome expression.
Glossary of gene expression terms, Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_gene_expression_terms 
Gene expression databases Databases & software directory

gene expression informatics: "Gene expression informatics- it's all in your mine" Douglas E. Bassett Jr. , Nature Genetics 21(1 Supplement): 51- 55, Jan 1999. http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/ng/journal/v21/n1s/full/ng0199supp_51.html  Google = about 262 Aug. 12, 2002; about 416, Aug. 22, 2003  Related terms: gene expression database mining; Microarrays data analysis - microarrays

gene expression profiling: The determination of the pattern of genes expressed i.e., transcribed, under specific circumstances or in a specific cell. MeSH, 2000

Involves studying the expression (as mRNA) of thousands of genes in a cell or tissue, and how gene expression changes under various conditions. ...  A major goal of expression- profiling studies is to gain evidence for coordinate control of the expression of sets of genes. In studying a disease process, one is interested in how the expression of large sets of genes may covary in health and disease. Such analysis is expected to help elucidate gene regulatory networks (e.g., molecular networks within the cell by which groups of genes are coordinately controlled) and biochemical pathways. It is also expected to help researchers determine how intracellular networks and pathways may be disrupted in disease processes or altered by drugs.  Related terms: expression profile, expression profiling. Related term protein expression
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expression_profiling   

gene expression regulation: Any of the processes by which nuclear, cytoplasmic, or intercellular factors influence the differential control of gene action at the level of transcription or translation. These processes include gene activation and genetic induction. MeSH, 1981  Google = "gene expression regulation" about 2,900 "gene expression" regulation about 230,000 Aug. 12, 2002; "gene expression regulation" about 62,900 Aug. 22, 2003; about 212,000 May 25, 2005  Related terms Omes & omics regulome, regulomics; Proteins protein regulation; Proteomics: protein- protein interactions
 Gene Gene regulation in eukaryotes, Kimball's Biology Pages  http://www.biology-pages.info/P/Promoter.html

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_gene_expression 
Gene regulation in prokaryotes: See Gene definitions: operon

gene shaving: A statistical method, which ... identifies subsets of genes with coherent expression patterns and large variation across conditions. Gene shaving differs from hierarchical clustering and other widely used methods for analyzing gene expression studies in that genes may belong to more than one cluster, and the clustering may be supervised by an outcome measure. The technique can be 'unsupervised', that is, the genes and samples are treated as unlabeled, or partially or fully supervised by using known properties of the genes or samples to assist in finding meaningful groupings. [Trevor Hastie et. al. "'Gene shaving' as a method for identifying distinct sets of genes with similar expression patterns" Genome Biology 1(2): 003, 2000  Google = about  377 Aug. 12, 2002; about 611 Aug. 22, 2003, about 3,930 Apr 6, 2009

gene silencing: Gene definitions Has effect upon gene expression  Google = about 11,000 Aug. 12, 2002; about 26,700 Aug. 22, 2003, about 1, 101,000 Apr 6, 2009
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_silencing 

genetic profiling: The description of an individual which lists the significant genetic characteristics of an individual to establish identify, relationship, genetic predisposition to certain traits or diseases and other genetic specifics. Oxford English Dictionary

Sometimes known as genetic fingerprinting. [Oxford Biochem] Google = "genetic profiling" about 1,820; "genetic fingerprinting" about 4,960  Aug. 12, 2002; "genetic profiling" about 3,800; "genetic fingerprinting" about 6,400  Aug. 22, 2003 

genome control maps: Maps & mapping  Google = about 12 Aug. 12, 2002; about 14, Aug. 22, 2003

genome expression,: Gene expression at the whole- genome level. Related term global gene expression. Or are these equivalent? Google = about  2,400 Aug. 12, 2002; about 4,770 Aug. 22, 2003, about 71,100 Apr 6, 2009

genomic profiling: A laboratory method that is used to learn about all the genes in a person or in a specific cell type, and the way those genes interact with each other and with the environment. Genomic profiling may be used to find out why some people get certain diseases while others do not, or why people react in different ways to the same drug. It may also be used to help develop new ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases, such as cancer. Also called genomic characterization. National Cancer Institute, Dictionary of Cancer Terms https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/genomic-profiling

The recent development of genome- wide expression profiling (chip, microarray or Serial Analysis of Gene Expression [SAGE] technologies) allows a comprehensive high- throughput screening of the effects of an insult (genetic, physiologic, pathologic, etc.) on gene expression in tissues and specific cell populations of interest.  These techniques may aid in determining the function of a newly discovered gene or discovering new biomarkers and therapeutics for patients with disease. [NIDDK Biotechnology Centers, Release Date:  September 23, 1999, RFA: DK-00-002, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, US]  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-00-002.html  
Google = about 625 Aug. 12, 2002; about 989 Aug. 22, 2003; about 2,580 June 21, 2004, about 53,600 Apr 6, 2009

global gene expression: An often overlooked aspect of measurements of global gene expression is that the sequence or even the origin of the arrayed probes does not need to be known to make interesting observations ... The basic idea is that if a drug interacts with and inactivates a specific cellular protein, the phenotype of the drug- treated cell should be very similar to the phenotype of a cell in which the gene encoding the protein has been genetically inactivated, usually through mutation. David J. Lockhart & Elizabeth A Winzeler “Genomics, gene expression and DNA arrays” Nature 405: 827-836 June 15, 2000

The first attempts at global surveys of gene expression were undertaken in the mid- 1970s … The serial methods involve direct, large scale sequencing of  cDNAs … the parallel approaches are based upon hybridization to cDNAs immobilized on glass (microarrays) or to synthetic oligonucleotides immobilized on silica wafers or "chips". . We note that bioinformatics needs are similar  and equally essential for all methods.  O Ermolaeva et al “Data Management and analysis for gene expression arrays” Nature Genetics 20: 19-23, 1998 
Google = about 2,060 Aug. 12, 2002; about 6,210 Aug. 22, 2003; about 13,600 June 10, 2004, about 177,000 Apr 6, 2009  Related (or equivalent?) term: genome expression

global regulators- expression: The loosely- defined term "global regulator" refers to a relatively small number of genes whose products have a wide- ranging influence on the state of the cell. One mechanism of action of these regulators is that their products bind the DNA slightly upstream of the coding region of the gene whose expression they influence. Thus there is information in both gene expression and genome sequence measurements regarding the identities of the global regulators. I will discuss a graph- structured probability model for identifying global regulators. Kerby A Shedden, Univ. of Michigan "Two Problems in Genomics that can be Addressed by Statistical Modeling and Simulation" UCLA Dept. of Statistics Department Seminar, Nov. 6, 2001   http://lists.stat.ucla.edu/pipermail/uclastat/2001-October/000058.html

Google = about 378 Aug. 12, 2002; about 1,150 Aug. 22, 2003; about 3,180 June 10, 2004 Related terms: mixed cell populations- expression signals Pharmacogenomics

high- throughput protein expression: One of the key steps of structural genomics and proteomics is high-throughput expression of many target proteins. Gene cloning, especially by ligation- independent cloning techniques, and recombinant protein expression using microbial hosts such as Escherichia coli and the yeast Pichia pastoris are well optimized and further robotized. Cell- free protein synthesis systems have been developed for large- scale production of protein samples for NMR (stable- isotope labeling) and X-ray crystallography (selenomethionine substitution). Protein folding is still a major bottleneck in protein expression. Cell- based and cell- free methods for screening of suitable samples for structure determination have been developed for achieving a high success rate. S. Yokoyama, Protein expression systems for structural genomics and proteomics, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 7(1): 39-43, Feb. 2003  

layered expression scanning: uses a layered array of capture membranes coupled to antibodies or DNA sequences to perform multiplex protein or mRNA analysis Englert CR, Baibakov GV, Emmert- Buck MR, "Layered expression scanning: rapid molecular profiling of tumor samples" Cancer Research 60(6): 1526- 1530,  Mar. 15, 2000    Google = about 21 Aug. 12, 2002; about 54 Aug. 22, 2003  Related terms: expression microdissection; Cell biology Laser Capture Microdissection LCM

mesoscopic expression: John Quackenbush http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/4515107 

metabolic engineering, metabolic fingerprinting, metabolic pathways: Metabolic engineering
metabolic phenomics: Omes & omics  Google = about 45 Aug. 12, 2002; about 65 Aug. 22, 2003, about 310 Apr 6, 2009
metabolic profiling: Metabolic engineering  Google = about 1,570 Aug. 12, 2002; about 2,900 Aug. 22, 2003, about 57,300 Apr 4, 2009
metabolite, metabolite expression,  metabolite profiling, metabolism, metabolite systems biology: Metabolic engineering

metagenes: Aggregate patterns of gene expression (metagenes) that associate with lymph node status and recurrence, and that are capable of predicting outcomes in individual patients with about 90% accuracy. The metagenes defined distinct groups of genes, suggesting different biological processes underlying these two characteristics of breast cancer. E. Huang et.al, Gene expression predictors of breast cancer outcomes, Gene expression predictors of breast cancer outcomes, Lancet 361(9369): 1590- 1596, May 10, 2003

mRNA expression: If messenger RNA is only an intermediate on the way to production of the functional protein products, why measure mRNA at all?  One reason is simply that protein- based approaches are generally more difficult, less sensitive and have a lower throughput than RNA- based ones. But more importantly, mRNA levels are immensely informative about cell state and the activity of genes, and for most genes, changes in mRNA abundance are related to changes in protein abundance. David J. Lockhart & Elizabeth A Winzeler “Genomics, gene expression and DNA arrays” Nature 405: 827- 836 June 15, 2000  Related (equivalent?) term: RNA expression  Google = about  28,700 Aug. 12, 2002; about 125,000 Aug. 22, 2003

mRNA expression arrays: Messenger RNA expression arrays immobilize stretches of mRNA and are used to measure the concentration of mRNA species in a sample as a function of tissue type, cell cycle and other environmental conditions. Andrej Sali et. al,  From words to literature in structural proteomics, Nature 442 (6928): 13 Mar. 2003 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v422/n6928/box/nature01513_bx2.html  Google = about 23 May 15, 2003; about 42 Aug. 22, 2003  Related terms: gene expression arrays, protein expression arrays; Are RNA expression arrays equivalent to mRNA expression arrays? 

molecular indexing:  A technique to select a subpopulation of cDNA by ligation of adapters to cDNA fragments digested by a class IIS restriction enzyme(s). By this technique, 3' end cDNA fragments are divided into 16 fractions by selective ligation of adapters and subsequent PCR amplification. Each fraction is used as a hybridization target for microarray hybridization. This fractionated target has a relatively lower nucleic acid complexity, including more fractions for rare transcripts, and is useful for their detection. "Microarray hybridization with fractionated cDNA: enhanced identification of differentially expressed genes" K. Sakai, H. Higuchi, K. Matsubara, K. Kato, Analytical Biochemistry 287 (1): 32- 37, Dec. 1, 2000 Google = about 88 Aug. 12, 2002; about 137 Aug. 22, 2003; about 341 Feb. 17, 2005, about 1,390 Apr 6, 2009  Related terms: differential display, expression profiling

overexpressed proteins: Are often insoluble, and can be recalcitrant to conventional solubilization techniques such as refolding. Directed evolution methods, in which protein diversity libraries are screened for soluble variants, offer an alternative route to obtaining soluble proteins. Recently, several new protein solubility screens have been developed that do not require structural or functional information about the target protein. Soluble protein can be detected in vivo and in vitro by fusion reporter tags. Protein misfolding can be measured in vivo using the bacterial response to protein misfolding. Finally, soluble protein can be monitored by immunological detection. Efficient, well- established strategies for generating and recombining genetic diversity, driven by new screening and selection methods, can furnish correctly folded, soluble protein. GS Waldo, Genetic screens and directed evolution for protein solubility, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 7(1): 33- 38, Feb. 2003  Google = about 834 Aug. 22, 2003

overexpression, underexpression: Comparison of expression levels of normal tissues with diseased tissue may be useful for prognostics.  Overexpression of a gene can be used to produce proteins on an industrial scale.  Google = overexpression about 74,200 Aug. 12, 2002; about 300,000 Sept. 16, 2004

pathways biological Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_pathway  See also Metabolic pathway ,  Genetic pathway , Signal transduction pathway

pathways databases: : Electronic databases of pathway information are currently limited in scope, computability, or both. A major focus of infrastructure development to support large- scale gene expression studies will be in the area of electronic biological pathway databases and resources. D Bassett et al “Gene expression informatics – it’s all in your mine” Nature Genetics 21 (1supp): 51-56 Jan 1999  Google = about  224 Aug. 12, 2002; about 253 Aug. 22, 2003; about 580 Sept. 16, 2004  Related terms: Metabolic engineering pathways   

post hoc testing- expression: The need for post hoc testing deserves special mention. Because arrays measure a large number of genes simultaneously and independently, false positives can occur. With false positives, certain genes’ expression appears to change, but the change is a not a result of underlying biology but random chance. This phenomenon is especially common in biological systems in which the changes are small in magnitude. The smaller the magnitude of the change seen on a hybridization array, the more likely that it is a spurious result.  
Google = about  94 Aug. 12, 2002; about 578 Aug. 22, 2003  Related term: statistical analysis.

profile: A table that lists the frequencies of each amino acid in each position of protein sequence. Frequencies are calculated from multiple alignments of sequences containing a domain of interest [NCBI Bioinformatics]  How does this relate to the other profiling terms?  Narrower terms: clinical profiling, expression profiling, expression profiling - sensitivity, gene expression profiling, genetic profiling, genomic profiling, molecular profile, protein expression profiling, tissue profiling, transcript profiling.

protein correlation profiling:  Overcomes the problem in proteomics of distinguishing proteins that are part of a complex from contaminating proteins. This method could be applied to the analysis of any protein complex. For example, a team led by Matthias Mann, a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, and Erich A. Nigg, director of the cell biology department at Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, has applied the method to characterize the centrosome Nature, 426, 570 (2003)]. New proteomic method, Chemical & Engineering News, Dec. 4, 2003  Related/synonymous term: protein profiling

protein expression:  The importance of the protein- based methods is that they measure the final expression product rather than an intermediate. In addition, some of them enable the detection of post- translational protein modifications (for example, phosphorylation and glycosylation) and protein complexes, and in some cases, yield information about protein localization … There is no question that protein - and RNA- based measurements are complementary, and that protein- based methods are important as they measure observable that are not readily detected in other ways. David J. Lockhart & Elizabeth A Winzeler “Genomics, gene expression and DNA arrays” Nature 405: 827-836 June 15, 2000     Google = about 69,100 Aug. 12, 2002; about 197,000 Aug. 22, 2003; about 2,680,000 June 11, 2007  Narrower terms: cell-free protein expression, difficult to express proteins, high- throughput protein expression

protein expression profile: Similar to gene expression profiling, protein expression can also be profiled using a two- color assay. This assay provides an indication of the relative levels of protein expression between two different conditions, whether they are disease vs. health, tissue vs. tissue, or normal vs. drug treated. The antibodies can be used to tag the profiled proteins, or the proteins themselves can be hapten derivatized, which in turn become targets for the immuno- RCA signal amplification complex. Hapten derivatization of the profiled proteins is one way to make this a universal assay. 

The expression pattern of a protein. Related (equivalent?) term protein profiling.  Google = about 122 Aug. 12, 2002; about 396 Aug. 22, 2003; about 761 June 10, 2004; about 33,700 June 11, 2007, about 44,800 Apr 6, 2009

protein profiling: Allows one to find differences in sample spectra very quickly using a small amount of material. When those differences are noted, one may proceed to identify and purify larger amounts of material using other types of array. This material can then be used to characterize the protein and assays can be developed for research or diagnostic purposes. Protein profiling is typically used for target discovery, toxicological studies or disease marker discovery (Wright et al. 2000; Paweletz et al. 2000).   Google = about  1,180 Aug. 12, 2002; about 2,840 Aug. 22, 2003; about 6,440 June 10, 2004; about 159,000 June 11, 2007, about 68,200 Apr 6, 2009  Related (equivalent?) term: protein expression profiling.

RNA expression: The focus of most current array based studies is the monitoring of RNA expression levels.  The tools are most comprehensive for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae…Yeast geneticists have recently [Jan 1999] begun reporting global expression studies of such fundamental processes as mitosis and meiosis.  The tools are also quite powerful for mammalian genomes, albeit with room for improvement. Eric Lander “Array of hope” Nature Genetics 21 (1s): 3-4 Jan 1999  Google = about  5,370 Aug. 12, 2002, about 17,400 Aug. 22, 2003; about 868,000 June 11, 2007, about 1,420,000 Apr 6, 2009  Related (equivalent?) term: mRNA expression

regulomics: The regulation of specific molecular interactions that determine gene expression. 

Serial Analysis of Gene Expression SAGE: SAGE is a sequence- based technology for gene identification and quantitation in which short (10-14 bp) sequences, called tags, are extracted from specific positions within a transcript. Many transcript tags are concatenated into a single molecule and then sequenced, revealing the identity of multiple tags simultaneously. The expression profile is then computed by counting the abundance of individual tags and identifying the gene corresponding to each tag. Among the purported advantages of SAGE are that it is highly sensitive and scaleable and that it detects all genes, including unknowns, and provides quantitative data.  Google = about 3,150 Aug. 12, 2002; about 6,910 Aug. 22, 2003, about 253,000 Sept. 7, 2007 Related term: RAGE  SAGE homepage http://www.sagenet.org

sequential regulation:  Correlated changes in protein expression.  Google = about  63 Aug. 12, 2002; about 140 Aug. 22, 2003

subtraction cloning: Uses competitive hybridization of nucleic acids from two different samples to selectively remove common expressed sequences. What remains are those sequences uniquely expressed in one sample or the other. The drawbacks of this approach are that it requires technical sophistication and is associated with an extremely low throughput rate for target identification.... On the positive side however, this approach does not involve proprietary technologies and is generally available to most investigators, and does not require a large infrastructure investment.   Google = about 207 Aug. 12, 2002; about 413, Aug. 22, 2003, about 4,510 Apr 6, 2009

subtractive hybridization: Subtractive hybridization is a powerful technique to study gene expression in specific tissues or cell types or at a specific stage. Traditional procedures often are technically demanding and labor-intensive methods that require large amounts of mRNA and might give rise to falsely positive and unreproducible results. Thermo Fisher, Subtractive hybridization https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/brands/product-brand/dynal/streptavidin-coupled-dynabeads/subtractive-hybridization.html
Google = about 405 Aug. 12, 2002; about 7,650 Aug. 22, 2003

tissue profiling: Compares gene expression in diseased and normal tissues. Useful in the target validation process.  Google = about  57 Aug. 12, 2002; about 102, Aug. 22, 2003, about 4,770 Apr 6, 2009

trans-activators: Diffusible gene products that act on homologous or heterologous molecules of viral or cellular DNA to regulate the expression of proteins. MeSH, 1990 Google = about 285 Aug. 12, 2002; about 8,390 Aug. 22, 2003

transcript: An mRNA molecule that encodes a protein. [Schlindwein]  Narrower term alternative transcript

transcript abundance:  Information about mRNA transcript abundance under different experimental conditions can be obtained from the analysis of EST sequences. If we assume that ESTs are randomly selected from non- normalised libraries, then the number of EST sequences representing each gene is directly proportional to the mRNA abundance in the tissue from which the library was constructed. Cogeme, UK http://cogeme.ex.ac.uk/transcript.html  Google = about 3,210 Aug. 22, 2003, about 68,300 Apr 6, 2009  

transcript expression: Advances [in the study of gene transcription] have not been matched by an  understanding of the transcripts that are actually expressed under different conditions in cells, tissues, and organisms. The development of methods to visualize gene expression by hybridization of DNAs carried on chips promised to help correct that ignorance … In the past few years, the number of such proteins [lacking a particular transcription associated protein] has greatly proliferated … and this has been reflected in a burgeoning and confusing literature….[some results suggest] control of the activity of individual transcription components – by which extracellular and intra- cellular events can affect gene expression. Roger Brent ‘Learning to think about gene expression data” Current Biology 9: R338-341 May 6 1999  Google = about 642  Aug. 12, 2002; about 2,730 Aug. 22, 2003, about 57,700 Apr 6, 2009 Related term: tissue- specific/cell- specific gene expression

transcript profiling: Four characteristics of the regulation of gene expression at the level of transcript abundance account for the great value and appeal of genome- wide surveys of transcript levels … DNA microarrays make it easy … the tight connection between the function of a gene product and its expression pattern … promoters function as transducers … Thus, as we learn what information is transduced by the promoter of each gene, we can begin to read this information from the profile of transcripts. Patrick O. Brown “Exploring the new world of the genome” Nature Genetics 21 (1s): 33-37 1999

A set of molecules in a particular cell or tissue type that exist within a range of values that are distinct from those in other cell or tissue type that exist within a range of values. Gene- transcript profiles are particularly appealing because RNA transcripts represent the primary output of the genome …. This technique, sometimes referred to as transcript imaging, has been used to identify genes that vary between diseased and healthy tissues. Although large changes in expression often attract our greatest attention, subtle changes can be highly significant…Currently, the significance of the vast majority of gene expression changes remains unknown … a small change in expression level could be a valuable diagnostic and prognostic indicator, provided that it can be accurately detected. G Zweiger “Knowledge discovery in gene- expression- microarray data” Trends in Biotechnology 17: 429-436 Nov. 1999]

A pharmacogenomic application that might enable drugs or other treatments to be tailored to narrowly defined patient groups, or to be excluded from patients with a high likelihood of responding adversely. Zweiger G. “Knowledge discovery in gene- expression microarray data.” Trends in Biotechnology. November 1999;17:429-436.  Google = about 771 Aug. 12, 2002; about 1,900 Aug. 22, 2003, about 48,100 Apr 6, 2009 
Related term: molecular profile, molecular profiling

transcription: The process by which the genetic information encoded in a linear sequence of nucleotides in one strand of DNA is copied into an exactly complementary sequence of RNA. IUPAC Biotechnology

Can be used to find disease related genes to discover pathways, leading to drug target identification and test the effect of drugs on gene expression (which can warn of potential side effects). Useful in toxicology and pharmacogenomics studies.  More under transcription: Sequences, DNA & beyond

transcription factors:  Endogenous substances, usually proteins, which are effective in the initiation, stimulation, or termination of the genetic transcription process. MeSH, 1977
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_factor     Narrower terms: artificial transcription factors, basal transcription factors, regulatory transcription factors

upregulation:  A positive regulatory effect on physiological processes at the molecular, cellular, or systemic level. At the molecular level, the major regulatory sites include membrane receptors, genes (GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION), mRNAs (RNA, MESSENGER), and proteins. MeSH, 2002   Google = about 19,300 Aug. 12, 2002; about 77,500 Aug. 22, 2003, about 2,760,000 Apr 6, 2009
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downregulation Downregulation and upregulation

whole genome expression: The current excitement in bioinformatics - analysis of whole-genome expression data: how does it relate to protein structure and function? Mark Gerstein, Ronald Jansen. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 10:(5): 574- 584, 2000  Google = about 626 Aug. 12, 2002; about 1,810 Aug. 22, 2003, about 20,500 Apr 6, 2009  Narrower terms genome expression, global gene expression.

Expression resources
Glossary of gene expression terms, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_gene_expression_terms

How to look for other unfamiliar  terms

IUPAC definitions are reprinted with the permission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.