Project description:Glucocorticoid steroids are commonly prescribed for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and acute respiratory distress, but chronic daily use produces an array of adverse effects including muscle wasting and weakness. In contrast, shorter and lower dose glucocorticoid pulses may improve athletic performance, although the mechanisms by which this occurs remain unclear. Muscle is sexually dimorphic and comparatively little is known about how male and female muscle respond to glucocorticoid steroids. In this work, we investigated the impact of a once-weekly glucocorticoid exposure on body mass and skeletal muscle performance, comparing male and female mice. We performed RNA sequencing of isolated myofibers from quadriceps of C57BL/6 male and female mice given vehicle, weekly, or daily prednisone for one month.
Project description:Glucocorticoid steroids are commonly prescribed for inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and acute respiratory distress, but chronic daily use produces an array of adverse effects including muscle wasting and weakness. In contrast, shorter and lower dose glucocorticoid pulses may improve athletic performance, although the mechanisms by which this occurs remain unclear. Muscle is sexually dimorphic and comparatively little is known about how male and female muscle respond to glucocorticoid steroids. In this work, we investigated the impact of a once-weekly glucocorticoid exposure on body mass and skeletal muscle performance, comparing male and female mice. We performed RNA sequencing of isolated myofibers from quadriceps of C57BL/6 male and female mice given vehicle, weekly, or daily prednisone for one month.
Project description:We identified genes expressed in mouse liver that are regulated by Cux2, a highly female-specific liver transcription factor whose expression is regulated by sex-dependent plasma GH patterns. Using adenovirus to overexpress Cux2 (Adeno-Cux2) in male liver, we show that Cux2 represses ~35% of male-biased genes and induces/de-represses ~35% of female-biased genes. Adeno-CMV was used as a control for adenoviral infection. (Published in Molec Cell Biology, TL Conforto et al, 2012) Liver RNA isolated from the following eight groups of mice was used in the present study: (1) 8 wk old untreated male (M) mice (n = 10; 5 per each pool); (2) 8 wk old untreated female mice (F) mice (n = 11; 5 or 6 per each pool); (3) 8 wk old male mice treated with Adeno-Cux2 and euthanized 5 days later (n = 12; 6 per each pool); (4) 8 wk old female mice treated with Adeno-Cux2 and euthanized 5 days later (n = 8; 4 per each pool); (5) 8 wk old male mice treated with Adeno-CMV and euthanized 5 days later (n = 13; 6 or 7 per each pool); (6) 8 wk old female mice treated with Adeno-CMV and euthanized 5 days later (n = 7; 3 or 4 per each pool); (7) 8 wk old male mice treated with Adeno-Cux2 and euthanized 3 days later (n=11; 5 or 6 per each pool); (8) 8 wk old male mice treated with Adeno-CMV and euthanized 3 days later (n=11; 5 or 6 per pool). These RNA pools were used in four separate sets of competitive hybridization experiments: 1) 8 wk untreated M vs. 8 wk untreated F; 2) 8 wk M + Ad-Cux2 (5 day) vs. 8 wk M + Ad-CMV (5 day); 3) 8 wk F + Ad-Cux2 (5 day) vs. 8 wk F + Ad-CMV (5 day); 4) 8 wk M + Ad-Cux2 (3 day) vs. 8 wk M + Ad-CMV (3 day). Fluorescent labeling of RNA and hybridization of the Alexa 555-labeled (green) and Alexa 647-labeled (red) RNA samples to Agilent Mouse Gene Expression 4x44k v1 microarrays (Agilent Technology, Palo Alto, CA; catalog # G4122F-014868) were carried out, with dye swapping for each of the three hybridization experiments to eliminate dye bias. Two microarrays, one for each mixed cDNA sample, were hybridized for each of the four fluorescent reverse pairs, giving a total of 8 microarrays.
Project description:Fatty acid transport protein 2 (FATP2) is highly expressed in liver, small intestine, and kidney where it functions in both the uptake of exogenous long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) and in the activation to CoA thioesters of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs). Here we address the phenotypic impacts of deleting FATP2 followed by an unbiased RNA-seq analysis of the liver transcriptome. Wild type (C57BL/6J) and fatp2 null (fatp2-/-) mice (5 weeks old) were maintained on a standard chow diet for 6 weeks (11 weeks old). The male fatp2-/- mice had 258 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the female mice had a total of 91. Of significance was the finding that most of the genes with increased expression in the fatp2-/- liver are regulated by the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). Taken together, FATP2 has a broad impact on the expression of key lipid metabolic genes in the liver regulated by PPARα.
Project description:We identified genes expressed in mouse liver that are regulated by Cux2, a highly female-specific liver transcription factor whose expression is regulated by sex-dependent plasma GH patterns. Using siRNA to knockdown Cux2 expression in female liver, we show that female specific genes are predominantly repressed by Cux2 knockdown. In contrast, similar numbers of male-biased genes are repressed as are induced by Cux2 knockdown. A scrambled, non-specific siRNA was used as a control. (Published in Molec Cell Biology, TL Conforto et al, 2012) Liver RNA isolated from the following 3 groups of mice was used in the present study: (1) 8 wk old female mice treated with non-specific siRNA control (n = 13; 6 or 7 per each pool); (2) 8 wk old female mice treated with Cux2 siRNA and euthanized 5 days later (n = 5; 2 or 3 per each pool); (3) 8 wk old female mice treated with Cux2 siRNA and euthanized 8 days later (n = 4; 2 per each pool). These RNA pools were used in two separate sets of competitive hybridization experiments: 1) 8 wk non-specific siRNA treated vs. 8 wk Cux2 siRNA treated for 5 days; 2) 8 wk non-specific siRNA treated vs. 8 wk Cux2 siRNA treated for 8 days. Fluorescent labeling of RNA and hybridization of the Alexa 555-labeled (green) and Alexa 647-labeled (red) RNA samples to Agilent Mouse Gene Expression 4x44k v1 microarrays (Agilent Technology, Palo Alto, CA; catalog # G4122F-014868) were carried out, with dye swapping for each of the two hybridization experiments to eliminate dye bias. Two microarrays, one for each mixed cDNA sample, were hybridized for each of the two fluorescent reverse pairs, giving a total of 4 microarrays.
Project description:To quantify gene expression differences in olfactory epithelium between the mouse (Mus musculus) and the Nile rat (Arvicanthis niloticus), paired-end RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to profile olfactory epithelium transcriptomes of six Nile rats and six mice (C57BL/6J) (one male and one female at the age of 8, 12, and 16 weeks for each species).