RNA expression in anterior nasal septum cartilage of wildtype and Fgfr2+/S252W Apert syndrome model mice at embryonic day (E)14.5.

The nasal capsule cartilage of Apert Fgfr2+/S252W mice increases in size compared to wildtype cartilage during embryonic craniofacial development. Increased levels of markers of cell proliferation can be detected in the Apert Fgfr2+/S252W anterior nasal septum cartilage compared to wildtype at E14.5. We have performed laser capture microdissection of this cartilage in these genotypes at this age to generate RNA-Seq libraries and compare gene expression. Expression analysis shows increased expression of genes related to chromosome condensation, nuclear division, and the cell cycle in Apert Fgfr2+/S252W anterior nasal septum cartilage compared to wildtype. Laser capture microdissection was performed on fresh frozen sections of three wildtype and three mutant mice. RNA was isolated from the six individual samples, converted to RNA-Seq libraries, and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform.