Evaluation of DNA microarray results in the Toxicogenomics Project (TGP) consortium in Japan

An important technology used in toxicogenomic drug discovery research is the microarray, which enables researchers to simultaneously analyze the expression of a large number of genes. To build a database and data analysis system for use in assessing the safety of drugs and drug candidates, in 2002 we conducted a 5-year collaborative study in the Toxicogenomics Project (TGP1) in Japan. Experimental data generated by such studies must be validated by different laboratories for robust and accurate analysis. For this purpose, we conducted intra- and inter-laboratory validation studies with participating companies in the second collaborative study in the Toxicogenomics Project (TGP2). Gene expression in the liver of rats treated with acetaminophen (APAP) was independently examined by the participating companies using Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays. The intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility of the data was evaluated using hierarchical clustering analysis. The toxicogenomics results were highly reproducible, indicating that the gene expression data generated in our TGP1 project is reliable and compatible with the data generated by the participating laboratories.