Expression analyses of E12.5 embryonic brains from Nestin Cre+, Rest GTi/GTi vs Rest GTi/GTi litermates. Mus musculus

We use mice containing a gene trap in the first intron of the Rest gene, which effectively eliminates transcription from all coding exons, to prematurely remove REST from neural progenitors. We find catastrophic DNA damage that occurs during S-phase of the cell cycle and concominant with activation of p53 pro-apoptotic sgnalling, with consequences including abnormal chromosome separation, apoptosis, and smaller brains. Overall design: extract RNA from E12.5 brain in quadriplicates, compare gene expression profile between Gene Trap REST knockout mice and control littermates