BALB/c mice genetically susceptible to proteoglycan-induced arthritis and spondylitis

BALB/c mice are susceptible to proteoglycan (PG) aggrecan-induced arthritis (PGIA), a murine model of rheumatoid arthritis (Glant,T.T. and Mikecz,K., Proteoglycan aggrecan-induced arthritis. A murine autoimmune model of rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Mol.Med. 2004. 102: 313-338.). However, there are marked differences among BALB/c colonies (maintained by different vendors at different locations) in PGIA onset and severity, which could be the result of subtle variations in their genetic background. In the present microarray study, we have identified differences among BALB/c colonies, and an altered immunization-related gene expression pattern in PGIA model. Keywords: Genetic modification In this study we compared the gene expression profile of 12 spleens from PG-immunized (RNA was isolated 12 days after immunization) and naive mice from BALB/cJ and BALB/cByJ colonies (3-3 from each group), then made comparisons between colonies and based on immunization.