Organization of Human Cardiovascular-expressed Genes on Chromosomes 21 and 22

The recent availability of the sequenced and annotated DNA sequences of chromosomes 21 and 22 has initiated the next phase in the human genome project: the application of this resource. One facet of these data is that they provide a list of ordered genes along the chromosome that can be capitalized upon to determine gene position effects. Specifically, the physical position and distribution of genes along the chromosomes may be related to gene expression in specific organs or organ systems. In this report we index the subset of genes constituting the human “cardiovascular genome” on chromosomes 21q and 22q as well as report the identification of several “cardiovascular gene” clusters. These gene clusters are suggestive of a higher order of tissue-specific gene regulation at the chromosomal level.