Gene expression in IL-17RA-deficient and wild-type mice following Giardia muris infection

To elucidate IL-17A-dependent immune mechanims involved in regulating host defense, we employed whole genome microarray expression profiling as a discovery platform to identify genes with the potential of regulating protective immunity that failed to be upregulated in the absence of IL-17RA signaling. Whole small intestine tissue collected from IL-17RA-deficient and C57BL/6 (wild-type) mice was collected 2 weeks after Giardia muris infection and from uninfected controls. Expression levels of several genes that may have anti-parasitic potential (Defb1, Retnlb, Saa1, Saa2) and may be involved in parasite clearance were, on average, lower or unchanged in IL-17RA deficient compared to wild-type mice after infection. Two weeks after Giardia muris challenge, total RNA was extracted and analyzed from tissue of the small intestines of infected IL-17RA-deficient and wild-type mice, and compared to uninfected controls. Each sample contained equal amounts of total RNA from 6 female mice which were pooled and used in the experiment.