Cerebral gene expression changes in Pdgfc and Pdgfra mutant

Platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) is one of three known ligands for the tyrosine kinase receptor PDGFRα. Analysis of Pdgfc null mice has demonstrated roles for PDGF-C in palate closure and the formation of cerebral ventricles, but redundancy with other PDGFRα ligands might hide additional functions. In search of further developmental roles for PDGF-C, we generated mice that were double mutants for Pdgfc -/- and Pdgfra GFP/+. These mice display a range of severe phenotypes including cerebellar malformation, neuronal over-migration in the cerebral cortex, spina bifida and lung emphysema. We focused our analysis on the central nervous system (CNS), where PDGF-C was identified as a critical factor for the formation of meninges and assembly of the glia limitans basement membrane. Meninges freely dissected and released from P0 cerebrum. RNA was isolated using RNeasy micro kit (Qiagen) and quality checked in a 2100 BioAnalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Transcription profiling was performed with Gene Chip Mouse Gene 1.0 ST array. We compared Pdgfc-/-; Pdgfra GFP/+ mice, with a control group consisting of all littermates (Pdgfc+/+, Pdgfc+/-, Pdgfc-/-, Pdgfc+/+; Pdgfra GFP/+ and Pdgfc+/-; Pdgfra GFP/+). One litter was used, including 4 mutants and 9 controls