Experimental animals, such as non-human primates (NHPs), mice, Zebrafish, and Drosophila, are frequently employed as models to gain insights into human physiology and pathology. In developmental neuroscience and related research fields, information about the similarities of developmental gene expression patterns between animal models and humans is vital to choose what animal models to employ. Here, we aimed to statistically compare the similarities of developmental changes of gene expression patterns in the brains of humans with those of animal models frequently used in the neuroscience field. The developmental gene expression datasets that we analyzed consist of the fold-changes and P values of gene expression in the brains of animals of various ages compared with those of the youngest postnatal animals available in the dataset. By employing the running Fisher algorithm in a bioinformatics platform, BaseSpace, we assessed similarities between the developmental changes of gene expression patterns in the human (Homo sapiens) hippocampus with those in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), the DG of the mouse (Mus musculus), the whole brain of Zebrafish (Danio rerio), and the whole brain of Drosophila (D. melanogaster). Among all possible comparisons of different ages and animals in developmental changes in gene expression patterns within the datasets, those between rhesus monkeys and mice were highly similar to those of humans with significant overlap P-value as assessed by the running Fisher algorithm. There was the highest degree of gene expression similarity between 40–59-year-old humans and 6–12-year-old rhesus monkeys (overlap P-value = 2.1 × 10− 72). The gene expression similarity between 20–39-year-old humans and 29-day-old mice was also significant (overlap P = 1.1 × 10− 44). Moreover, there was a similarity in developmental changes of gene expression patterns between 1–2-year-old Zebrafish and 40–59-year-old humans (Overlap P-value = 1.4 × 10− 6). The overlap P-value of developmental gene expression patterns between Drosophila and humans failed to reach significance (30 days Drosophila and 6–11-year-old humans; overlap P-value = 0.0614). These results indicate that the developmental gene expression changes in the brains of the rhesus monkey, mouse, and Zebrafish recapitulate, to a certain degree, those in humans. Our findings support the idea that these animal models are a valid tool for investigating the development of the brain in neurophysiological and neuropsychiatric studies.

中文翻译：

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人和实验动物大脑发育基因表达变化的相似性：恒河猴、小鼠、斑马鱼和果蝇

实验动物，例如非人类灵长类动物 (NHP)、小鼠、斑马鱼和果蝇，经常被用作模型来深入了解人类生理学和病理学。在发育神经科学和相关研究领域，关于动物模型和人类之间发育基因表达模式相似性的信息对于选择采用何种动物模型至关重要。在这里，我们旨在统计比较人类大脑中基因表达模式的发育变化与神经科学领域常用的动物模型的相似性。我们分析的发育基因表达数据集包括与数据集中可用的最年轻的出生后动物相比，不同年龄动物大脑中基因表达的倍数变化和 P 值。通过在生物信息学平台 BaseSpace 中使用正在运行的 Fisher 算法，我们评估了人类（智人）海马中基因表达模式的发育变化与恒河猴（Macaca mulatta）齿状回（DG）中基因表达模式的发育变化之间的相似性，小鼠 (Mus musculus) 的 DG、斑马鱼 (Danio rerio) 的全脑和果蝇 (D. melanogaster) 的全脑。在数据集中基因表达模式的发育变化中不同年龄和动物的所有可能比较中，恒河猴和小鼠之间的比较与人类高度相似，具有显着的重叠 P 值，由运行的 Fisher 算法评估。40-59 岁的人类和 6-12 岁的恒河猴之间的基因表达相似度最高（重叠 P 值 = 2. 1 × 10− 72)。20-39 岁人类和 29 日龄小鼠之间的基因表达相似性也很显着（重叠 P = 1.1 × 10- 44）。此外，1-2 岁斑马鱼和 40-59 岁人类之间基因表达模式的发育变化存在相似性（重叠 P 值 = 1.4 × 10-6）。果蝇和人类之间发育基因表达模式的重叠 P 值未能达到显着性（30 天果蝇和 6-11 岁的人类；重叠 P 值 = 0.0614）。这些结果表明，恒河猴、小鼠和斑马鱼大脑中的发育基因表达变化在一定程度上概括了人类大脑中的发育基因表达变化。