Cdk8 overexpression effects in heart

Analysis of ventricular derived mRNA from cardiac specific Cdk8 overexpressing mice. Results provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Methods: Ventricular samples (5 per group) from 21-day-old cardiac specific Cdk8 overexpressing versus wildtype male mice were used to generate polyA enriched stranded RNA libraries followed by RNAseq using the Illumina HiSeq platform. Raw sequence reads were analyzed with BaseSpace (www.illumina.com) by trimming to 125bp and aligning reads to the mus musculus mm10 genome using the TopHat Alignment app. Transcripts were assembled and significant differentially expressed genes were determined with the Cufflinks Assembly and DE app using a false discovery rate <0.05. Genes with >1.5 fold expression changes were used for further analyses. qRT–PCR validation was performed using SYBR Green assays.