Spatial Regulation of Gene Expression in Articular Cartilage Assessed by Laser Captured Microdissection and Microarray. Mus musculus

We used laser capture microdissection to isolate different zones of the articular cartilage from proximal tibiae of 1-week old mice, and used microarray to analyze global gene expression. Bioinformatic analysis corroborated previously known signaling pathways, such as Wnt and Bmp signaling, and implicated novel pathways, such as ephrin and integrin signaling, for spatially associated articular chondrocyte differentiation and proliferation. In addition, comparison of the spatial regulation of articular and growth plate cartilage revealed unexpected similarities between the superficial zone of the articular cartilage and the hypertrophic zone of the growth plate. Overall design: Collecte five biological replications in three superficial, mid zone and deep zones of Articular Cartilage Assessed by Laser Captured Microdissection and Microarray(Superficial Zone vs Mid Zone vs Deep Zone)

本研究采用激光捕获显微切割（laser capture microdissection）技术，从1周龄小鼠的胫骨近端分离得到关节软骨的不同区域，并借助微阵列（microarray）技术分析其全局基因表达谱。经生物信息学分析（bioinformatic analysis），本研究不仅验证了此前已报道的信号通路（如Wnt信号通路与Bmp信号通路），还揭示了与关节软骨细胞空间特异性分化及增殖密切相关的新型信号通路，包括ephrin信号通路与整合素（integrin）信号通路。此外，对比关节软骨与生长板软骨（growth plate cartilage）的空间调控机制，研究发现关节软骨浅层区与生长板软骨肥大区之间存在未被预期的相似性。实验整体设计：通过激光捕获显微切割与微阵列技术，对关节软骨的浅层区、中层区与深层区进行检测，每个区域设置5次生物学重复（浅层区vs中层区vs深层区）