Effects of psychological stress on gene expression in the mouse rectum.. Mus musculus

Using isolation stress model, we showed that goblet cell-dependent mucosal barrier functions in the mouse rectum was more vulnerable to stress than the colon. We also found that isolation stress specifically stimulated IL-18 production only in the rectum. Furthermore, the crucial role of IL-18 in the stress response of the mouse rectum was confirmed using IL-18 knockout mice. Microarray analysis was used to assess the stress response and to identify responsible genes for the vulnerability of the mouse rectum to isolation stress. Overall design: Total RNA was prepared from the colon and the rectum of wild-type and IL-18 knockout mice before isolation and 8 days after starting isolation. The one GSM sample of microarray analysis was made by pooling an equal amount of total RNA 5 mice of each group. Agilent whole mouse genome oligonucleotide microarray was used to measure gene expression in these samples according to the manufacture’s protocol.