Differential gene expression between normal and malignant liver tissues in four metabolic pathways that produce ATP

Gene expression microarrays allow us to simultaneously study the expression level of thousands of genes in a variety of tissues. The technology makes it possible to examine normal and diseased tissue samples and identify all the genes on the arrays that differ in expression between the samples. This can reveal genes that represent particular diseases, and therefore present new targets for drugs. In this project, a matched set of 10 normal and 10 malignant liver tissues was studied. Gene expression levels and differences were determined in four metabolic pathways relating to energy production: glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid metabolism, and the citric acid cycle. Fold change analyses were performed along with statistical analyses to establish which genes yielded significant results in terms of over- or underexpression. The results revealed nine possible new genes that could serve as disease markers, and 11 genes whose results contradict those previously published in literature.