Differentially modulated transcriptomes of mouse skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) during postnatal development

Purpose: During postnatal development the fetal skeletal muscle undergoes a rapid and dramatic transition to adult function through transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms, including alternative splicing (AS) Methods:We performed RNA-seq for high-resolution analysis of transcriptome changes during postnatal mouse skeletal muscle development using RNA from gastrocnemius muscle from embryonic day 18.5, postnatal day 2 (PN2), PN14, PN28, adult (22 weeks). Results: We identified a novel role for AS in several cellular functions including calcium handling and membrane organization during postnatal skeletal muscle development. Furthermore, AS transitions within calcium handling genes are responsive to Celf1 and Mbnl1, RNA-binding proteins with developmentally regulated expression. Conclusions: We identified a novel role for AS in several functional categories during postnatal development including calcium handling, vesicular trafficking and cell junctions. Overall design: Mouse skeletal muscle mRNA profiles of embryonic day 18.5, postnatal day 2 (PN2), PN14, PN28, adult (22 weeks) gastrocnemius muscle were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500.