Laser Capture Microdissection and Microarray Profiling of Postnatal Brain Development in Rhesus Macaque

Non-human primates provide experimentally tractable model systems that allow carefully controlled analysis of important developmental processes relevant for human health and disease. The goal of the NIH Blueprint Non-Human Primate (NHP) Atlas is to provide a detailed analysis of gene expression in the normal developing primate brain from birth through adulthood in brain regions associated with high-level cognitive, mnemonic and emotional functions as well as neurodevelopmental disorders linked to disruption of these capacities.

A major component of the NHP atlas is genome-wide transcriptional profiling aimed at the identification of transcriptional programs differentially active at different stages of brain maturation in neonates, infants, juveniles and adults. The second phase of this profiling consists of microarray profiling of finely dissected tissue samples from subdivisions of the medial prefrontal cortex, primary visual cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and ventral striatum. Each subdivision is profiled in three independent biological replicate specimens at each of four postnatal developmental stages (0, 3, 12 and 48 months) using Affymetrix GeneChip Rhesus Macaque Genome Arrays.

This document describes details about the generation of these microarray data, which are freely accessible for download.