Transcription profiling of E2F4 double knockout mice and heterozygous littermates

We considered the possibility that removal of E2F4, as a key regulator of cellular quiescence, would cause systemic perturbations in the expression of E2F4 bound genes involved in cell cycle and proliferation. To test whether these pertubrations were reflected in the adult tissues' gene expression programs, we compared the gene expression profile of E2F4 double knockout mice to the gene expression found in identical tissues from E2F4 heterozygous littermates, that are phenotypically normal. We selected liver, testes, and kidney to profile by gene expression analysis, because two of these tissues are affected at some point during development when E2F4 is missing.我们推测，作为细胞静息态的关键调控因子，E2F4的敲除可能会引发参与细胞周期与增殖的E2F4结合基因的表达出现系统性扰动。为验证此类扰动是否会在成年组织的基因表达程序中有所体现，我们将E2F4双敲除（double knockout）小鼠的基因表达谱，与表型正常的E2F4杂合子同窝仔鼠的相同组织内的基因表达情况进行了对比。我们选取肝脏、睾丸与肾脏开展基因表达分析，原因在于当E2F4缺失时，其中两类组织会在发育过程的特定阶段受到影响。