Changes in gene expression in the striatum of Drd2Cre; ERK1/ERK2 knockout mice

We knocked out ERK1 and ERK2 in the striatopallidal population of striatal medium spiny neurons and analyzed differences in gene expression at P17, a time of increased synapse formation. We used whole gene microarray to assess transcriptional changes that occur in the mouse striatum at P17 in response to ERK1/2 deletion in striatopallidal medium spiny neurons. Striatal punches were extracted from Mapk3(Erk1)-/-; Mapk1(Erk2)Floxed/Floxed (control mice) or Drd2Cre;Mapk3(Erk1)-/-; Mapk1(Erk2)Floxed/Floxed (mutant mice) at postnatal day 17. RNA was extracted and analyzed using Affymetrix microarray.