Gene expression analysis of serotonin transporter knock-out and wildtype rats during rat postnatal prefrontal cortex development

To unravel the effect of increased extracellular serotonin levels on brain development, RNA-seq was performed in the medial prefrontal cortex of serotonin transporter knockout and wildtype rats at five time points from early life to adulthood (postnatal day (PND) 8, 14, 21, 35 and 70). Differential expression of protein-coding genes was analyzed and we demonstrate that a lack of functional 5-HTT especially affects gene expression in early postnatal life (PND8). Comparison of gene expression between serotonin transporter wildtype and knockout rats at 5 different developmental time points (postnatal day 8, 14, 21, 35 and 70) in medial prefrontal cortex of Wistar rats. 5 samples per time point per genotype.