Exon level gene expression profile of the prefrontal cortex region of Df(16)A+/- mice, a mouse model of 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome

Df16(A)+/- mice line is a model of human 22q11 microdeletion syndrome. We conducted an unbiased evaluation of the transcriptional difference in the prefrontal cortex between mutant and wild type animals at exon level. These mice were generated by chromosomal engineering and carry a microdeltion of ~1.3Mb in the mouse locus syntenic to the human 22q11.1 The reasoning behind this expression profiling is that consistent alterations in transcriptional programs reflect either downstream (immediate or remote) effects of the deficiency or reactive (compensatory) changes, and can thus point to affected biological processes and molecular functions. Df(16)A+/- mice line is a model of human 22q11 microdeletion syndrome. Adult mutant mice and their wild type littermate were selected. Prefrontal cortex tissues were dissected, total RNA were extracted, processed and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays. We sought to obtain difference of expression profiles between mutant and wild mice at exon level.