RNA-Seq of Mouse Embryonic Heart Development in Atf4 Exon 3 Frameshift Knockout Mice

This dataset contains RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) profiles from embryonic hearts of Atf4 del7/del7 mice, which harbor a 7-base-pair deletion in exon 3 of Atf4 resulting in complete loss of ATF4 protein expression. The purpose of this experiment is to evaluate the transcriptional consequences of ATF4 deficiency in embryonic cardiomyocytes, independent of transcriptional readthrough artifacts associated with an earlier widely used Atf4 floxed mouse model. RNA-seq was performed on ventricular tissue collected from E11.5 embryos of Atf4 del7/del7 mice and their wild-type littermates to assess gene expression changes associated with loss of ATF4 protein. Overall design: The Atf4(del7/del7) model was generated by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of 7 base pairs within exon 3 of the Atf4 gene, introducing a frameshift and premature stop codon. This mutation abolishes ATF4 protein production without altering its polyadenylation signal. Embryos were harvested at embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5), and ventricular heart tissue was dissected for RNA extraction using TRIzol reagent. RNA quality was assessed with an Agilent Bioanalyzer. RNA-seq libraries were prepared using the Illumina TruSeq stranded mRNA kit and sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 6000 platform. Four biological replicates were collected for each genotype.