Bioinformatics Evaluation of SPATA19 Gene Expression in Different Parts of Brain

Determining the expression pattern of testis genes in the brain is essential for understanding tissue functions and correlation or inter-correlation between testis and the brain. In this study, we examined spermatogenesis-associated 19 (SPATA19 gene) expression in 10 parts of the brain with bioinformatics analysis.

The public dataset GSE46706, including 1231 samples originated from 134 Caucasian individuals, was downloaded from NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). SPATA19 gene expression in the cerebellar cortex, frontal cortex, hippocampus, medulla, occipital cortex, putamen, substantia nigra, temporal cortex, thalamus, and white matter was examined against each other using R software and the t-test. 

Out of 10 brain parts examined, the cerebellar cortex and white matter showed the highest expression, and the temporal cortex showed the lowest expression of the gene. So the cerebellar cortex had a 5.6% and 6.2% increase in gene expression relative to the putamen and temporal cortex with P values of 6.04e-13 and 2.15e-17, respectively. Also, the white matter had a 4% increase in gene expression over the temporal cortex with a P value of 1.89e-13. 

SPATA19 had more expression in the cerebellar cortex and white matter than other brain parts. These two parts make up the cerebellum.