CajaDB: uma plataforma para dados moleculares de Sagui comum (Callithrix jacchus) e análises de transcriptoma

Abstract

Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), a small New World monkey, has been widely used as a biological model not only to elucidate brain dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders, but also for deciphering neural circuits involved in human social behaviors. In this regard, the availability of gene expression data derived from next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies represents an opportunity for deeper studies on the genetic and epigenetic architecture of this species. One of the frontiers in neuroscience field requires handling omics large-scale data sets for connecting molecular pathways to nervous system behavior. To make these omics datasets more accessible for the scientific community without a solid bioinformatics background, we have created CajaDB, a database that provides a friendly interface for genomic, expression and alternative splicing data, including tools for biological analyses. Using the processed data two analysis were conducted: (1) Differential expression between right and left hemispheres, once lateralization is a crucial aspect of the functional brain architecture for cognitive abilities. It was found 49 differentially expressed genes, where 24 genes had left hemisphere bias and 25 genes had right hemisphere bias. (2) Sex-biased gene expression with focus in frontal comparing to humans. It was found that genes whose expression is male biased are conserved between marmosets and humans and enriched with "housekeeping" functions. On the other hand, female-biased genes are more related to neural plasticity functions involved in remodeling of synaptic circuits, stress cascades and visual behavior. Based on knowledge of dimorphic social behavior of male and female common marmosets we discuss that these differences might be linked to neuronal circuitry underlying the expression of the adaptive strategies in each sex and related to survival and reproductive behavior traits. Hence, it is expected that data available in the webpage associated with available biological tools will facilitate generation of hypotheses and interpretation of results on brain functioning, facilitating improvements in neurological diseases treatment in the future. CajaDB is available at cajadb.neuro.ufrn.br.