Beta Cell Gene Expression Bank
The Beta Cell Gene Expression Bank is a dataset curated by Decio L. Eizirik and colleagues at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). There are two main components. One, called the Fast Track, reports the expression level of genes in beta cells under basal conditions and under conditions thought to induce beta cell dysfunction and death in T1D; these data come from a series of microarray experiments conducted in the Eizirik laboratory (12–16). The second component, called the Annotated Track, consists of manual annotation of gene function carried out by beta cell experts; priority is given to genes whose expression is changed when dysfunction is induced. The annotation includes information on the gene's function, its localization, disease association (with special focus on T1D and other autoimmune diseases), other interacting proteins and the phenotype after gene disruption in knockout/transgenic models. Key original references and reviews are provided.
The Fast Track currently has data for about 4500 genes from 30 Affymetrix microarray experiments. The Annotated Track contains more than 300 genes at present and is growing at a rate of 40–60 new genes per month.