Expression data from subcutaneous adipose tissue of barrows and boars

The male hypogonadism is closely associated with adipose tissue metabolism. Domestic pig has been a widely used experimental animal in biomedical research because of their similarity to humans in body size and other physiological/anatomical features. However, the transcriptional responses of pigs to male hypogonadism in subcutaneous adipose tissue remain unclear so far. We used microarrays to detail the transcriptional profiles of barrows and boars, and determined the gene networks regulated by castration-induced sex hormone deficiency. This study will help to provide a significant addition to knowledge about fat accumulation and lipid metabolism in hypogonadal man. The subcutaneous adipose tissue of barrows and boars were acquired at 175 d of age for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. All the fifteen pairs of full sibs were divided into six subgroups. An equal amount of total RNA from 5 boars was pooled in a subgroup, and RNA from 5 barrows in each pair of full sibs was pooled in another subgroup. Each pooled RNA sample was hybridized to a separate array. A total of 6 gene chips were used in this study, resulting in three biological duplicates.