Age-mediated transcriptomic changes in adult mouse brain ventral tegmental area

Substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) is highly sensitive to normal aging and selectively degenerates in Parkinson's disease. However, ventral tegmental area (VTA), a region adjacent to SNpc, is less affected in PD. Until now, molecular mechanisms behind VTA aging have not been fully investigated using high throughput techniques. Here, aging-associated early changes in transcriptome of VTA were investigated comparing late middle-aged (18 months old) to young (2 months old) mice. Three age groups of C57 wild type mice were used in microarray analysis: young (2 months old), middle aged (10 months old), and late-middle aged (18 months old) mice. Four replicates were included in each age group and each replicate was pooled from 5 mice (5 mice/replicate x 4 replicates x 3 age groups). Total RNA was isolated from VTA for hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.