Gene Expression Profiles of Atxn3-WT and Atxn3-KO mouse embryonic fibroblasts

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a polyglutamine-encoding CAG repeat expansion in the ATXN3 gene, which encodes a deubiquitinating enzyme, ATXN3, implicated in numerous quality control pathways. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the pathogenic role of mutant polyQ-expanded ATXN3 in SCA3 including disease protein aggregation, impairment of ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation and transcriptional dysregulation. A better understanding of the normal functions of this protein may shed light on SCA3 disease pathogenesis. To assess the potential normal role of ATXN3 in regulating transcription, we compared gene expression profiles in wildtype (WT) versus Atxn3 knockout (KO) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). A total of six microarray slides were hybridized for gene expression profiling in Atxn3-WT (3 replicates) and Atxn3-KO (3 replicates) MEFs.