A public database for gene expression in human cancers

A public database, SAGEmap, was created as a component of the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project to provide a central location for depositing, retrieving, and analyzing human gene expression data. This database uses serial analysis of gene expression to quantify transcript levels in both malignant and normal human tissues. By accessing SAGEmap (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SAGE) the user can compare transcript populations between any of the posted libraries. As an initial demonstration of the database's utility, gene expression in human glioblastomas was compared with that of normal brain white matter. Of the 47,174 unique transcripts expressed in these two tissues, 471 (1.0%) were differentially expressed by more than 5-fold (P<0.001). Classification of these genes revealed functions consistent with the biological properties of glioblastomas, in particular: angiogenesis, transcription, and cell cycle related genes.