Gene expression profile in the heart of wild type and Adenosine Receptor A2a over expressing mice

Adenosine binds to 4 G protein-coupled receptors located on the cardiomyocyte (A1-R, A2a-R, A2b-R and A3-R) and modulates cardiac function during both ischemia and load-induced stress. While the role of adenosine receptor-subtypes has been well defined in the setting of ischemia-reperfusion, far less is known regarding their roles in protecting the heart during other forms of cardiac stress. We characterized the gene expression profiles of heart from A2a-R over-expressing mice subjected to transverse aortic constriction to study the potential of A2a-R activation to protect from pressure-induced heart failure. Transgenic mice were generated by over-expression of Adenosine Receptor 2A in a cardiac-specific and inducible manner. 8-week-old male wild-type FVB mice (N=3) and A2a-R TG littermates (N=3) underwent transverse aortic constriction (TAC). Hearts were harvested after 14 weeks. Affymetrix Mouse Gene 1.0 ST Array which contains 28853 transcripts was used to study the gene differential expression between wild type and A2a-R TG mice.