Gene expression changes in cerebellar meninges in Pdgfc and Pdgfra mutant mice at P0

Platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) is one of three known ligands for the tyrosine kinase receptor PDGFRα. We generated mice that were double mutants for Pdgfc -/- and Pdgfra GFP/+, and have previously shown how cerebral meninges are affected resulting in developmental neuronal overmigration. Other severe phenotypes displayed in these mice include cerebellar malformation, spina bifida and lung emphysema. We focused our analysis on the central nervous system (CNS) and the cerebellum, where PDGF-C was identified as a critical factor during development. Meninges overlying the cerebellum of P0 mouse were freely dissected and stored in RNA later® (Ambion). RNA was isolated using RNeasy micro kit (Qiagen) and quality checked in a 2100 BioAnalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Transcription profiling was performed with Gene Chip Mouse Gene 1.0 ST array. We compared mice with a cerebellar phenotype (Pdgfc-/-; Pdgfra GFP/+) with a control group consisting of all littermates (Pdgfc+/+, Pdgfc+/-, Pdgfc-/-, Pdgfc+/+; Pdgfra GFP/+ and Pdgfc+/-; Pdgfra GFP/+).