Transcriptome analysis of the effects of melanocortin and tuftsin analogues in health rat brain

We used two-month-old male Wistar rats (200-250 g). Rats were divided into four groups: i.e., MEHFPGP (ACTH(4-7)PGP, Semax), TKPRPGP (Selank), HFRWPGP (ACTH(6-9)PGP, A), and saline (three rats per group). The rats in these respective groups were injected intraperitoneally three times with either Semax (100 microg/kg), Selank (200 microg/kg), ACTH(6-9)PGP (100 microg/kg), or saline at intervals of 1 h and 4 h. At 22.5 h after the first administration, rats were decapitated, the frontal cortex was dissected and total RNA was isolated. The mRNA fraction was subjected to High-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq). Sequencing was done using an Illumina HiSeq 1500 instrument. At least 10 million reads (1/50 nt) were generated.