Differencial gene expression between cortex and striatum of WT and ASCT1 (Slc1a4)-knockout mice

In order to explore possible consequence of ASCT1 (Slc1a4) deletion in neurodevelopment, we carried out RNA sequencing of the striatum, which was altered in MRI analysis, and compared with the neocortex, which was unaffected. We found significant changes in 375 transcripts in the striatum of adult mice at adjusted p values lower than 0.05. No changes in gene expression were observed in the neocortex. Enrichment analysis using non-redundant reciprocal linkage of genes identified 11 metagroups, with overrepresentation of genes linked to axonal guidance and neurodevelopmental processes in the striatum. The most significant changes were seen in axon guidance genes, suggesting changes in neurodevelopmental-related gene transcripts in ASCT1-KO mice, compatible with the findings in human familial ASCT1 mutations. We generated RNAseq data from the cerebral cortex and striatum of Wild Type and ASCT1-KO mice on Illumina NextSeq500, 75 bp single-end reads, high-output mode (Illumina, FC-404-2005).