Gene Profiling in Mouse Fetal Ductus Arteriosus

The ductus arteriosus (DA) is a fetal vascular shunt that is located between the main pulmonary artery and the aorta. Oxygenated fetal blood from the placenta is shunted past the uninflated fetal lungs, crosses the DA, and is then available to the peripheral organs. In utero closure of the DA is deleterious, but postnatal closure of the DA is necessary for establishment of pulmonary circulation and the transition to newborn life. We used microarrays to compare ductus arteriosis (DA) and aortic gene expression at a single time point (day 19 of gestation, which is the day of expected delivery). DA and corresponding aortic vascular segments from fetal mice on day 19 of gestation were collected from every pup in a litter (up to the first 10 pups). These samples were pooled and considered representative of the DA's or aortas from one pregnant female. Tissues were homogenized via 27g needle, per GentraSystems Versagene kit