Comparison of lens gene expression between the control and DicerCN mouse embryos at E13.5

In order to investigate the mechanism for the progressive lens degeneration caused by targeted deletion of Dicer, we compared expression profiles of protein-coding genes in wild type and DicerCN lenses at E13.5, at a time before gross morphological changes had occurred. We identified distinct classes of differentially expressed genes in the conditional knockout lenses. Intact lenses were dissected from five control and five DicerCN mice at E13.5 for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.