Gene expression profiling of temporal lobes of wfs1 deficient mice

Aim of present study was to describe the changes induced deletion of the Wfs1 gene in the temporal lobe of mice. Mutant mice were backcrossed to two different genomic backgrounds in order to exclude confounding foreign genomic background influence. Samples from temporal lobes were analyzed by using Affymetrix Genechips, expression profiles were functionally annotated by using GSEA and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. We found that Wfs1 mutant mice are significantly smaller (20.9 1.6 g) than their wild-type counterparts (31.0 0.6g, p < 0.0001). Interestingly, genechip analysis identified growth hormone transcripts up-regulated and functional analysis found appropriate pathways activated. Moreover, we found significant increase in the level of IGF1 in the plasma of wfs1 mutant mice. Taken together, wfs1 mutation induces growth retardation whereas the growth hormone pathway is activated. Further studies are needed to describe biochemical and molecular details of the growth hormone axis in the wfs1 mutant mice.

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