The effects of Mkp-1 knockout and systemic E. coli infection on the transcriptome of the liver

Previously, I have found that Mkp-1 knockout exacerbates inflammation, perturbs lipid metabolism, increases organ damage, mortality, and bacterial burdens. To understand the role of Mkp-1 in the regulation of host defense, we performed RNA-seq analysis using total RNA isolated from livers of uninfected and E. coli-infected wildtype and Mkp-1 knockout mice. Specifically, Mkp-1 wildtype and knockout (both on the C57/129 background) mice were infected with E. coli (O55:B5, ATCC 12014) at a dose of 2.5×107 CFU/g of body weight i.v., or given same volume of PBS. Mice were sacrificed 24 h post-infection to harvest organs. Livers were frozen clamping in liquid nitrogen, and stored at -80°C . Total RNA was isolated with Trizol and used for RNA-seq. RNA-seq results indicate that both E. coli infection and Mkp-1 knockout caused profound changes in the transcriptomes in the mouse livers. Overall design: Examination of the transcriptomal changes caused by E. coli sepsis in both Mkp-1 wildtype and knockout mice.