Expression data from normal atria and ventricles

Pharmacological and gene ablation studies have demonstrated a crucial role of the cardiac natriuretic peptides (NP) hormones ANF and BNP in the maintenance of cardiovascular homeostasis. In addition, hypertension and chronic congestive heart failure are clinical entities that may be regarded as states of relative NP deficiency. Hence the study of the function of the endocrine heart is highly relevant. To identify genes that are related to the endocrine function of the heart we have conducted differential gene expression studies of the rat atria and ventricles using oligonucleotide arrays. Keywords: comparative genomic hybridization The atrial appendages and the ventricular free walls were obtained from thirteen normal male Sprague Dawley rats. The total RNA was obtained from four pools of atrial and four pools of ventricular tissues. Four biological replicates for each muscle type were generated, i.e. 4 atrial replicates and 4 ventricular replicates.