A housekeeping gene search to analyze expression changes of individual genes in Macaca mulatta

Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are the most common non-human primates living in captivity. The use of rhesus macaques as model objects is determined, first of all, by their phylogenetic and physiological closeness to humans, and, as a consequence, the possibility of extrapolating the obtained results to humans. Currently, it is known that a number of biochemical changes occur under various physiological conditions, including at the transcriptomic level. The real-time polymerase chain reaction is a widely used universal method for gene expression analysis. Carrying out such studies always requires a preliminary selection of “housekeeping genes” (HKGs) – genes necessary for the implementation of basic functions in the cell and stably expressed in different cell types and under different conditions. At present, there are only two systematic studies on the search for HKGs in the rhesus macaque brain, and therefore in this work a search and systematization of HKGs for this species were carried out. As a result, two panels of promising HKGs for M. mulatta were formed: an extended panel, consisting of 56 genes, and a small panel, consisting of 8 genes: ARHGDIA, CYB5R1, NDUFA7, RRAGA, TTC1, UBA6, VPS72, and YWHAH. Both panels of potential HKGs do not have pseudogenes in macaques or humans, are characterized by stable and sufficient expression in the brain of rhesus macaques and can be used to analyze expression not only in the brain but also in peripheral blood. However, it should be noted that the data have not been experimentally verified and require verification in laboratory conditions. 

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