Gene expression of soleus response to simulated microgravity

Identification of gravisensitive gene expression in rat soleus muscle exposed to 7 and 14 days of Hindlimb suspension (HS) simulated microgravity. Microgravity causes muscle atrophy possibly due to muscle wasting overtake regeneration. Results provide insight into the molecular mechanisms regulating muscle atrophy. The expression of 787 (373 upregulated and 414 downregulated) and 923 (491 upregulated and 432 downregulated) genes out of 28000 was altered respectively at least 2-fold of 7 and 14 days TS, which represented 397 (233 upregulated and 164 downregulated) genes of common alteration. By using real-time PCR assays, we verified the microarray data using some of the expected genes. The tissue was collected from Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks of age) subjected to 7, 14days of TS. mRNA expression profile was determined in three groups: control (CN), TS for 7 days (TS-7), and TS for 14 days (TS-14).Three mRNA microarray chips were analyzed for mixture of four samples of each of the three groups.