Genome-Wide Analysis of Gene expression in the Pituitary Gland of the Pregnant Dam

Analysis of gene expression in the pituitary gland of pregnant versus non-pregnant dams. We describe the dynamic control of pituitary gene expression in the pregnant mother, with implications for the regulation of maternal metabolic adaptations to pregnancy. Females (c57BL6/J strain) from independent litters were randomly allocated to the mating (n = 8) or virgin (n = 4) groups. Females were mated with c57BL6/J studs the day of the vaginal plug was recorded, and the gravid females were sacrificed at e15.5 by terminal anaesthesia. The whole pituitary was removed from the skull and immediately snap frozen, then stored at −80 °C. RNA was extracted and processed for gene expression profiling.