Gene expression analysis of rat macrophages

We used microarray to compare gene expression between bone marrow-derived (BMDM), monocyte-derived (MDM), alveolar (AM), peritoneal (PM) and embryonic stem cell (ESC) derived rat macrophages. The expression of liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) were inferred by analysis of whole livers from Csf1r deficient rats. The transcriptional response of BMDM to LPS was also examined. RNA was isolated from 3-4 biological samples and included technical replicates for in vitro macrophages. For ESC-derived macrophages, technical replicates (n = 3) were used as the ESC were derived from a single clone.