RNAseq analysis of skeletal muscle transcriptomes from non-transgenic (NTG) and skeletal muscle specific overexpression a deletion mutant form of ornithine transcarbamylase (MCK-ΔOTC) mice.

We analyzed the gene expression changes that result from mitochondria overloaded by unfolded proteins in skeletal muscles. Mitochondrial-retained mutant ornithine transcarbamylase (ΔOTC) is a known protein degraded by LONP1 and an established model for studying mitochondrial proteostasis imbalance. We generated transgenic mice overexpressing ΔOTC specifically in skeletal muscle using the muscle creatine kinase promoter (MCK-ΔOTC). Transcriptome analysis was performed by whole-genome gene expression profiling experiments in muscles from the MCK-ΔOTC mice and NTG littermate controls. The comparative mRNA profiling strategy revealed extensive genomic reprogramming in MCK-ΔOTC muscles, with 1051 genes up- and 519 genes down-regulated (1.5-fold change and p<0.05), respectively. GO analysis of the regulated genes in MCK-ΔOTC muscles revealed significant enrichment in unfolded protein response as well as RNA processing process. These data suggest that mitochondria overloaded by ΔOTC unfolded proteins induce extensive genomic reprogramming in skeletal muscle Gastrocnemius muscle mRNA profiles of 2-week-old NTG and MCK-ΔOTC mice were generated by deep sequencing, in duplicate, using Illumina HiSeq 4000.