Genome-wide analysis of cartilage gene expression in response to cartilage-specific ablation of Site-1 protease (Mbtps1) in mice (S1Pcko mice). Mus musculus

Analysis of differential gene expression in chondrocytes due to S1P ablation in mice. The hypothesis tested in this study was that ablation of S1P in mice would result in differential gene expression in chondrocytes that may be responsible for the S1Pcko phenotype. Overall design: The chondroepiphyseal cartilage from the tip of appendicular bones such as femur, tibia, humerus, radius, ulna were harvested from E16.5 wild type (WT) and S1Pcko embryos. In addition, the appendicular bones and calvarium from E16.5 WT and S1Pcko embryos also were harvested and processed for total RNA without removing the chondroepiphyseal cartilage. The chondroepiphyseal cartilage and bones were rolled on Whatman Filter paper to remove muscle and blood vessels, and total RNA was extracted, labeled, hybridized on Illumina Mouse WG-6 v1.1 and analyzed to identify genes that were differentially expressed in the S1Pcko skeletal elements when compared to WT.