01682nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653002700067653000900094653003000103653001200133653002500145653004400170653000900214653001500223100001200238700001500250700001600265700000900281700001200290700001300302245007500315300001000390490000700400520095900407022001401366       2010                            d  c2010 Oct10aAnimals10aDisease Models, Animal10aFoot10aGene Expression Profiling10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aOligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis10aRats10aRats, Nude1 aAkama T1 aTanigawa K1 aKawashima A1 aWu H1 aIshii N1 aSuzuki K00aAnalysis of Mycobacterium leprae gene expression using DNA microarray.  a181-50 v493 a<p>Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, does not grow under in vitro condition, making molecular analysis of this bacterium difficult. For this reason, bacteriological information regarding M. leprae gene function is limited compared with other mycobacterium species. In this study, we performed DNA microarray analysis to clarify the RNA expression profile of the Thai53 strain of M. leprae grown in footpads of hypertensive nude rats (SHR/NCrj-rnu). Of 1605 M. leprae genes, 315 showed signal intensity twofold higher than the median. These genes include Acyl-CoA metabolic enzymes and drug metabolic enzymes, which might be related to the virulence of M. leprae. In addition, consecutive RNA expression profile and in silico analyses enabled identification of possible operons within the M. leprae genome. The present results will shed light on M. leprae gene function and further our understanding of the pathogenesis of leprosy.</p>  a1096-1208