Expression data from macroH2A1/2 double knockout fetal mouse liver

MacroH2As core histone variants have a unique structure that includes C-terminal nonhistone domain. MacroH2As are highly conserved in vertebrates, and are thought to regulate gene expression. However the nature of genes regulated by macroH2As and the biological significance of macroH2As for the organism remain unclear. Here we examine macroH2A function in vivo by knocking out both macroH2A1 and macroH2A2 in the mouse. We used microarrays to examine how the absence of macroH2A.1 and macroH2A.2 histone variants affect gene expression late fetal mouse liver. Wild-type and macroH2A1/2 double knockout pre-implantation embryos were collected, mixed and implanted into wild-type recipient females. Livers were collected from the resultant fetuses at 18.5 days post coitum and snap frozen with liquid nitrogen. Total RNA was extracted from the livers using Trizol.