Comparative analysis of time-dependent effects of dynamic stretch on gene expression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes

The present study focuses on the identification of the gene expression profile of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRVCMs) after dynamic mechanical stretch through microarrays of RNA isolated from cells stretched for 2, 6 or 24 h. mRNA microarray and subsequent bioinformatics analysis was performed commercially from Comprehensive Biomarker Center (Heidelberg, Germany) on Agilent’s high-performance mRNA microarray platform. Briefly, mRNA expression profile was determined using RNA isolated from either unstretched (control group), or stretched cardiomyocytes for 2, 6, or 24 h using Agilent’s standard Rattus norvegicus 8x60K_60mer mRNA microarrays printed by Agilent’s 60-mer SurePrint technology. Each study group consisted three biological replicates. The generated microarray data were exploited bioinformatically to compare mRNA profiles of individual samples as well as grouped samples to identify significantly deregulated candidates.