Comparison of total and polyribosome-associated mRNA levels in male Fmr1 KO mice and male WT littermates. Mus musculus

The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein, FMRP, is thought to regulate the translation of a specific set of neuronal mRNAs on polyribosomes. Therefore, we prepared polyribosomes on sucrose gradients and purified mRNA specifically from these fractions, as well as the total mRNA levels, to determine whether a set of mRNAs might be changed in its % association with polyribosomes in the absence of FMRP in the KO mouse model. No significant differences were found, other than the Fmr1 transcript itself, in total mRNA levels or % polyribosome association that withstood multiple test correction, in P7 Fmr1 KO mouse cerebral cortex compared with WT littermates.. Overall design: We prepared polyribosomes on sucrose gradients from 6 littermate pairs of Fmr1 KO and WT littermates (FVB background, P7 males, cerebral cortex) and purified RNA from both polyribosomal fractions and input to the gradient, reflecting total mRNA levels for comparison.