Microarray analysis of iris gene expression in mice with mutations influencing pigmentation

Several ocular diseases involve the iris, notably including oculocutaneous albinism, pigment dispersion syndrome, and exfoliation syndrome. To screen for candidate genes that may be active in these diseases, genome-wide iris gene expression patterns were comparatively analyzed from mouse models of these conditions. Irides were obtained from healthy C57Bl/6J, B6-Lystbg-J/J which carry a mutation in the Lyst gene, B6(Cg)-TyrC-2J/J which carry a mutation in the tyr gene, and B6.D2-Tryp1bGpnmbR150X/Sj with mutations in both Tryp1 and Gpnmb. Four eyes from two mice were pooled for one sample. Three samples were prepared for each strain.