Whole brain expression data from postnatal day 7-aged mice exposed to ethanol at postnatal day 7

The developing brain is particularly sensitive to ethanol during the brain growth spurt or synaptogenesis (third human trimester equivalent). This has been shown to lead to abnormal brain development and behavioural changes in the adult mouse that are relevant to those seen in humans with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). We evaluated the acute (4h post-treatment) gene expression changes that occur in the brain due to ethanol exposure during synaptogenesis (postnatal day 7). We used microarray analyses to evaluate the changes in brain gene expression at postnatal day 7 that occur due to ethanol treatment at postnatal day 7 (synaptogenesis). To generate samples, C57BL/6J pups were injected with ethanol (experimental) or saline (control) at postnatal day 7 (2 x 2.5 g/kg at 0h and 2h). Pups were sacrificed 4 hours following the initial injection. Total RNA was extracted from whole brain tissue and RNA from three male mice from three different litters were pooled as one biological replicate. Each male ethanol-treated mouse represented in a sample was matched by a control littermate present in a control sample. This study consists of two experimental (ethanol-treated) biological replicates and four control (saline vehicle-treated) replicates (total mice used was n=18).

发育中的大脑在脑生长激增期或突触发生（synaptogenesis）阶段（对应人类妊娠第三三月期）对乙醇尤为敏感。已有研究表明，该阶段的乙醇暴露可导致成年小鼠出现脑发育异常与行为改变，此类表型与人类胎儿酒精谱系障碍（Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, FASD）患者所表现出的临床症状高度相关。
本研究评估了突触发生阶段（出生后第7天）小鼠大脑因乙醇暴露产生的急性（给药后4小时）基因表达变化，并采用微阵列分析（microarray）检测了该阶段经乙醇处理后小鼠大脑的基因表达改变。
为制备实验样本，我们于出生后第7天对C57BL/6J幼鼠注射乙醇（实验组）或生理盐水（对照组），给药方案为于0小时与2小时各给予2.5 g/kg剂量，总给药剂量为2×2.5 g/kg。初次给药4小时后处死所有幼鼠，提取全脑组织总RNA；将来自3个不同窝的3只雄性小鼠的RNA混合，作为一个生物学重复样本。每个实验组样本中的乙醇处理雄性小鼠，均与对照组样本中的同窝雄性对照小鼠一一匹配配对。
本研究共包含2个实验组（乙醇处理组）生物学重复样本与4个对照组（生理盐水溶剂处理组）生物学重复样本，实验共使用18只小鼠（n=18）。