Differential gene expression in spinal cords from uninfected WT mice and infected RdRP transgenic mice (2 days post infection with Encephalomyocarditis Virus, EMCV)

Previously, we reported that mice made transgenic for a picornaviral RdRP – the 3Dpol protein of Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) – suppress infection by diverse viral families. How the picornaviral RdRP transgene exerted antiviral protection in vivo was not known. To investigate the molecular mechanism, we determined gene expression profiles in spinal cords of WT and RdRP transgenic mice prior to (baseline) and after (2 days) infection with Encephalomyocarditis Virus (EMCV). Spinal cords from adult age-matched WT mice were harvested prior to (baseline) viral infection and RdRP transgenic spinal cords were harvested after (2 days) infection with Encephalomyocarditis Virus (EMCV). Total RNA was isolated (Qiagen RNeasy kit) and used as a template to synthesize biotinylated cRNA which was then hybridized to the HT Mouse Genome 430 2.0 GeneChip Array (Affymetrix).