| The marine sponge Axinella corrugata is a model for cell culture development and is known to respond to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation in vitro. This report documents changes in gene expression related to PHA treatment of sponge primary cell cultures. The research employed a cross-species technique in which marine sponge cDNA was hybridized to commercially available microarrays of human gene sequences. Widespread specific hybridization was observed. A panel of 108 potentially regulated genes was derived through basic statistical methods. Two genes with expression differences of similar magnitude, but with reciprocal ratios, were selected for verification by parallel PCR. Results indicate that PHA effects proliferative and anti-apoptotic molecular changes in marine sponge cells. The cross-species microarray technique was established as an effective tool for gene expression profiling in non-model organisms, and also provided strong evidence of close homology between many human and sponge gene sequences. |
