cDNA microarray technology has been increasingly used to monitor global gene expression patterns in various tissues and cell types. However, applications to mammalian development have been hampered by the lack of appropriate cDNA collections, particularly for early developmental stages. To overcome this problem, a PCR-based cDNA library construction method was used to derive 52,374 expressed sequence tags from pre-and peri-implantation embryos, embryonic day (E) 12.5 female gonad͞mesonephros, and newborn ovary. From these cDNA collections, a microarray representing 15,264 unique genes (78% novel and 22% known) was assembled. In initial applications, the divergence of placental and embryonic gene expression profiles was assessed. At stage E12.5 of development, based on triplicate experiments, 720 genes (6.5%) displayed statistically significant differences in expression between placenta and embryo. Among 289 more highly expressed in placenta, 61 placenta-specific genes encoded, for example, a novel prolactin-like protein. The number of genes highly expressed (and frequently specific) for placenta has thereby been increased 5-fold over the total previously reported, illustrating the potential of the microarrays for tissue-specific gene discovery and analysis of mammalian developmental programs.

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Alterations in glutamatergic neurotransmission are implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, and the glutamatergic system represents a treatment target for depression. To summarize the nature of glutamatergic alterations in patients with depression, we conducted a meta-analysis of proton magnetic resonance (1H-MRS) spectroscopy studies examining levels of glutamate. We used the search terms: depress* AND (MRS OR “magnetic resonance spectroscopy”). The search was performed with MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO. The inclusion criteria were 1H-MRS studies comparing levels of glutamate + glutamine (Glx), glutamate, or glutamine between patients with depression and healthy controls. Standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated to assess group differences in the levels of glutamatergic neurometabolites. Forty-nine studies met the eligibility criteria, which included 1180 patients and 1066 healthy controls. There were significant decreases in Glx within the medial frontal cortex (SMD = −0.38; 95% CI, −0.69 to −0.07) in patients with depression compared with controls. Subanalyses revealed that there was a significant decrease in Glx in the medial frontal cortex in medicated patients with depression (SMD = −0.50; 95% CI, −0.80 to −0.20), but not in unmedicated patients (SMD = −0.27; 95% CI, −0.76 to 0.21) compared with controls. Overall, decreased levels of glutamatergic metabolites in the medial frontal cortex are linked with the pathophysiology of depression. These findings are in line with the hypothesis that depression may be associated with abnormal glutamatergic neurotransmission.