Gene Expression Analysis of spinal cord obtained from a mouse model of severe Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive motor neuron disease and is the second most common genetic disorder leading to death in childhood. No effective therapy is currently available. It has been suggested that β-lactam antibiotics such as ceftriaxone may offer neuroprotection in motoneuron disease. We investigated the therapeutic effect of ceftriaxone in a murine model of SMA. Microarray technology was used to assess the global gene expression profile of spinal cord obtained by ceftriaxone-treated and vehicle treated SMA mice. Comparative Gene Expression Analysis. The microarray data derived from three different groups: wildtype controls, transgenic SMA (vehicle treated) and ceftriaxone-treated SMA mice. Each population consists of four RNA profiling samples.