Atrial Identity Is Determined by A COUP-TFII Regulatory Network (RNA)

Atria and ventricles exhibit distinct molecular profiles that produce structural and functional differences between the two cardiac compartments. However, factors that determine these differences remain largely undefined. Cardiomyocyte-specific COUP- TFII ablation produces ventricularized atria that exhibit ventricle-like action potentials, increased cardiomyocyte size, and development of extensive T-tubules. We used microarrays to examine the molecular profile of cardiomyocyte-specific COUP-TFII knockout adult atria in comparison with that of normal atria. We extracted RNA from mutant right atria, control right atria and control ventricles from 2 months old adult mice, followed by gene expression profiling using Affymetrix microarrays.心房与心室具有截然不同的分子特征，这一特征造就了二者在结构与功能上的显著差异。然而，决定这些差异的分子调控机制目前仍未被完全阐明。心肌细胞特异性敲除COUP-TFII可诱导心室化心房的形成，此类心房会呈现出类似心室的动作电位、增大的心肌细胞体积以及发达的横小管（T-tubules）。本研究采用基因芯片（microarrays）技术，对比分析了心肌细胞特异性COUP-TFII敲除的成年小鼠心房与正常心房的分子特征。我们从2月龄成年小鼠的突变型右心房、对照右心房以及对照心室中提取RNA，随后使用Affymetrix基因芯片完成基因表达谱分析。