Transcriptional consequences of aneuploidy. Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Aneuploidy, or an aberrant karyotype, results in developmental disabilities and has been implicated in tumorigenesis. However, the causes of aneuploidy-induced phenotypes and the consequences of aneuploidy on cell physiology remain poorly understood. We have performed a meta-analysis on gene expression data from aneuploid cells in diverse organisms, including yeast, plants, mice, and humans. We found highly-related gene expression patterns that are conserved between species: genes that were involved in the response to stress were consistently upregulated, while genes associated with the cell cycle and cell proliferation were downregulated in aneuploid cells. Within species, different aneuploidies induced similar changes in gene expression, independent of the specific chromosomal aberrations. Taken together, our results demonstrate that aneuploidies of different chromosomes and in different organisms impact similar cellular pathways and cause a stereotypical anti-proliferative response that must be overcome prior to transformation. Overall design: These experiments are two-color hybridizations of RNA isolated from aneuploid samples vs matched wt cells, all grown to midlog phase.