Expression data from myocardial tissue from Spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and its minimal congenic strain PD5

Spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR; Rat Genome Database (RGD) ID: 631848) is probably the most commonly used rodent model for essential hypertension. Its minimal congenic subline PD5 ( SHR.PD-(D8Rat42-D8Arb23)/Cub; (RGD ID: 1641851)) which differs by a short segment of chromosome 8 (encompassing only 7 genes) displays lower levels of blood pressure and amelioration of cardiac fibrosis compared to SHR. We used microarray aproach to unravel gene expression differences between SHR and PD5 responsible for the different phenotypes in our rat strains. Both strains were bred in-house. Rats were kept under 12 hours light-dark cycle, fed standard laboratory chow and given access to water ad libitum. After 2 months rats were anesthetized and decapitated. Organs were snap frozen in liquid nitrogen, and left ventricular myocardium was used for RNA extraction and further analysis.