Gene expression analysis of SCG sympathetic neurons with loss of Egr3

The transcription factor Egr3 has been shown to have a cell autonomous role in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) development. We utilized microarray analysis to identify potential downstream target genes deregulated with loss of Egr3. Both conditions were in the null Bax background to prevent apoptosis and therefore mitigate identification of apoptosis related genes. Our analysis identified genes involved in biological processes that were expected such as SNS development and axonogenesis as well as those that were unexpected such as dendritogenesis and axon guidance. This led us to investigate whether Egr3 is important in these unexpected biological processes within sympathetic neurons. Total RNA was obtained from superior cervical ganglion (SCG) dissected from P0 mice with the genotype of Egr3+/+; Bax-/- or Egr3-/-; Bax-/-. Each genotype had 3 samples each.已有研究表明，转录因子Egr3在交感神经系统（sympathetic nervous system, SNS）发育中具有细胞自主性功能。本研究采用基因芯片分析技术，旨在鉴定Egr3缺失后表达失调的潜在下游靶基因。为阻断细胞凋亡以避免凋亡相关基因干扰鉴定结果，所有实验均设置Bax基因敲除背景。分析结果显示，筛选得到的基因不仅涉及预期的生物学过程（如交感神经系统发育与轴突发生），还包含未被预期的过程，例如树突发生与轴突导向。基于此发现，我们进一步探究Egr3在交感神经元的上述未预期生物学过程中是否发挥重要作用。实验总RNA提取自两种基因型的出生0天（P0）小鼠的颈上神经节（superior cervical ganglion, SCG），其基因型分别为Egr3+/+; Bax-/- 与Egr3-/-; Bax-/-，每种基因型设置3个生物学重复样本。