Transgenic expression of Nrf2 in the mouse

NFE2L2, nuclear factor, erythroid 2 like 2 (Nrf2), is a transcription factor that protects cells through maintaining a homeostatic redox state during stress. Constitutive expression of Nrf2 (CaNrf2-TG) was previously shown to be pathological to the heart over time. We tested a hypothesis that the cardiac-specific expression of full length Nrf2 (mNrf2-TG) would moderately increase the basal antioxidant defense, triggering a pro-reductive environment leading to adaptive cardiac remodeling. Overall design: Cardiac-specific full-length Nrf2 transgenic (mNrf2-TG) and non-transgenic (NTG) mice hearts on the C57/BL6 background at 7-8 months of age were used to analyze the transcriptome and cardiac structure/function. Next generation sequencing (NGS) for RNA profiling (n=3/4group) and qPCR-based validation (n=5/group) of the NGS data were accomplished. Myocardial redox levels and imaging (echocardiography) were performed