DigiNorthern is a tool for virtually displaying the expression profile of query genes (currently only accept DNA sequence as input) based on the EST sequences currently available at NCBI GenBank. There are currently two versions for this program. DN1 takes one sequence as query gene and lists all the cell lines/tissues/organs that express the gene and displays the relative expression levels of the gene in these cell lines/tissues/organs based on the number of matched ESTs vs the total number of ESTs for related libraries. Whereever available, comparison will also be made between the same tissue/organ in normal and neoplasis status. DN2 takes two sequences as query genes and compares their expression profiles side by side. digiNorthern is currently available for Human and mouse. Options for other species may become available in future depending on user's request and EST data availability.
Important disclaimer: Due to the nature of EST data, the expression profile provided by digiNorthern may not be accurate and therefore, should be used only for purpose of preliminary analysis. We strongly suggest you to verify the data by experimental methods.
Chen Y, Vujcic S, Liang P, Diegelman P, Kramer DL, Porter CW. Genomic identification and biochemical characterization of a second spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase. Biochem J. 2003 Aug 1;373(Pt 3):661-7
Ghadersohi A, Odunsi K, Lele S, Collins Y, Greco WR, Winston J, Liang P, Sood AK.Prostate derived Ets transcription factor shows better tumor-association than other cancer-associated molecules. Oncol Rep. 2004 Feb;11(2):453-8.
Collins Y, Tan DF, Pejovic T, Mor G, Qian F, Rutherford T, Varma R, McQuaid D, Driscoll D, Jiang M, Deeb G, Lele S, Nowak N, Odunsi K. Identification of differentially expressed genes in clinically distinct groups of serous ovarian carcinomas using cDNA microarray. Int J Mol Med. 2004 Jul;14(1):43-53.
Chen Z, Wang W, Ling XB, Liu JJ, Chen L. GO-Diff: mining functional differentiation between EST-based transcriptomes. BMC Bioinformatics. 2006 Feb 16;7:72.