We aimed to identify major differentially expressed genes of embryonic fibroblasts from chicken embryos. We examined the layer, Beijing Fatty Chicken (BFC), and broiler, Silkie Bantam (SB), two distinctive chicken breeds. Nine-day old chicken embryos are developmentally between the beginning of feather formation and the beginning of hardening of the beak. Embryonic fibroblasts are most abundant at this stage. In this paper we used microarray to compare transcriptional levels, and found the different expression of some genes related to signaling pathways involved in fibroblast development. Subsequent real time-PCR was consistent with microarray data. Therefore, the results described herein provide insightful information for animal husbandry and scientific research.

Fas is a cell surface receptor that, when engaged by Fas ligand (FasL) or specific agonistic antibodies, triggers apoptosis. Binding of an adaptor protein, FADD, to the death-effector domain of Fas activates a cascade of cysteine proteases known as caspases that cleave cellular substrates, resulting in cell death. The aim of this study was to systematically construct the global proteinprotein interaction (PPI) network and predict Fas related protein connections by network analysis using MetaCore.