Project description:DBA/2N Ahsg -/- mice suffer from sever soft tissue calcification. Gene expression in whole kidney of 5-6 week old mice were analyzed, at this stage calcification is not yet macroscopically detectable. Evaluation of the gene expression pattern was performed to provide insights into the mechanisms preceding the formation of mineralized lesions.
Project description:Adolescent sensitivity to alcohol is predictive of later alcohol use and is influenced by genetic background. Data from our laboratory suggested that adolescent C57BL/6J and DBA/2J inbred mice differed in susceptibility to dorsal hippocampus-dependent contextual fear learning deficits after acute alcohol exposure. To investigate the biological underpinnings of this strain difference, we examined dorsal hippocampus gene expression via RNA-sequencing after alcohol and/or fear conditioning across male and female C57BL/6J and DBA/2J adolescents. Strains exhibited dramatic differences in dorsal hippocampal gene expression. Specifically, C57BL/6J and DBA/2J strains differed in 3526 transcripts in males and 2675 transcripts in females. We identified pathways likely to be involved in mediating alcohol’s effects on learning, including networks associated with Chrna7 and Fmr1. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms underlying strain differences in alcohol’s effects on learning and suggest that different biological networks are recruited for learning based on genetics, sex, and alcohol exposure.
Project description:Strain differences influence susceptibility to atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E-null mice on a DBA/2J genetic background (DBA-apoE) and C57BL/6 (B6-apoe) are highly susceptible to atherosclerosis in the aortic root area compared with those on a 129S6/SvEvTac background (129-apoE). To explore strain-specific differences affecting the susceptibility to atherosclerosis, we performed microarray analysis of aortic arch and root from wild type mice of each strains.