Comprehensive profiling of gene expression in the cerebral cortex and striatum of BTBRTF/ArtRbrc mice compared to C57BL/6J mice

Mouse line BTBR T+ Iptr3tf/J (hereafter referred as to BTBR/J) is a congenic mouse strain that shows lower sociability compared to the C57BL/6J mouse strain (hereafter referred to as B6) and thus is often utilized as a model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we utilized another subline, BTBRTF/ArtRbrc (RIKEN BioResource Research Center; RBRC, Tsukuba, Japan; RBRC ID: 01206, hereafter referred to as BTBR/R), and analyzed the associated brain transcriptome compared to B6 mice using microarray analysis. We focused on the cerebral cortex and the striatum, both of which are thought to be brain circuits associated with ASD symptoms. Our results identified the transcriptome profiling in BTBR/R mice compared to B6 mice, which could contribute to the understanding of ASD molecular pathology as well as the differences in sociality observed between BTBR/J mice and B6 mice. The BTBR/R and B6 mice were housed in the animal facility on 12-h light and dark cycle from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The brain tissue samples (cerebral cortex and striatum) from mice of each strain were dissected out (Male; 4–6 months of age; N = 4 per experimental group).