Global gene expression patterns during neural differentiation of P19 embryonic carcinoma cells

The nervous system is composed of many different types of neurons and glia cells. Differentiation of these cell types is regulated by various intrinsic transcriptional programs as well as extrinsic signals. Studies of neural differentiation have been focused on the roles of individual factors. Here we profiled global gene expression patterns during neural differentiation of P19 embryonic carcinoma cells. Grouping of the genes induced during P19 neural differentiation into functional categories reveals a set of important transcription factors and extracellular signaling pathways, many of which are also involved in neural development in vivo. In addition, clustering of the induced genes according to their temporal expression pattern reveals 6 groups of genes, each with distinct kinetics, suggesting the existence of different phases in P19 neural differentiation. Our studies provide a temporal array of global pictures of the gene expression patterns used during neural differentiation. The results of this study provide the framework for subsequent analysis of the effects of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors on neural differentiation.