Brain expression data from adult mice prenatally exposed to ethanol

Moderate alcohol exposure during pregnancy can result in a heterogeneous range of neurobehavioural and cognitive effects, termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). We have developed a mouse model of FASD that involves moderate ethanol exposure throughout gestation achieved by voluntary maternal consumption. This model results in phenotypes relevant to FASD. Since ethanol is known to directly affect the expression of genes in the developing brain leading to abnormal cell death, changes to cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation, and potential changes to epigenetic patterning, we hypothesize that this leaves a long-term footprint on the adult brain. However, the long-term effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on brain gene expression, when behavioural phenotypes are apparent, are unclear. We used a microarray experiment and focused on the genes identified by both to evaluate the genome-wide alterations to the adult brain transcriptome caused by prenatal ethanol exposure. To generate samples, female C57BL/6J mice were given ethanol injections (2.5g/kg of ethanol in saline) twice on gestational days 8 and 11 to produce acute ethanol exposure effects. Control females were injected with the same volume of saline. Females were mated. Whole brain RNA from adult (postnatal day 70) male ethanol-exposed offspring was extracted. RNA samples from three mice were pooled to reduce litter effects and the pooled samples were hybridized on Affymetrix arrays (2 control and 2 ethanol chips, total n=12 mice). To generate samples, female C57BL/6J mice were given ethanol injections (2.5g/kg of ethanol in saline) twice on gestational days 14 and 16 to produce acute ethanol exposure effects. Control females were injected with the same volume of saline. Females were mated. Whole brain RNA from adult (postnatal day 70) male ethanol-exposed offspring was extracted. RNA samples from three mice were pooled to reduce litter effects and the pooled samples were hybridized on Affymetrix arrays (2 control and 2 ethanol chips, total n=12 mice).