How the new tools to analyze the human genome are opening new perspectives: The use of gene expression in investigations of the adrenal cortex

With the promise of state-of-the-art molecular technologies and the tools provided by the human genome project, a number of investigators are trying to identify molecular targets of adrenocortical tumorigenesis. One path in this endeavor was the identification by positional cloning of genes that are mutated in rare adrenocortical tumors. The subject of this article is an update of the results of experiments in the second path that was followed by us and others: that of using genome-wide expression analysis of adrenocortical cells in normal and various disease states. Transcriptomic analysis is a rapidly evolving technology; this article summarizes some data on the adrenal cortex and points out how these new technologies can be used in the identification of important genes and molecular pathways in both normal and diseased adrenal cortex.