RNA Sequencing Facilitates Quantitative Analysis of Cont/Dicer KO/Scx HT mice Achilles Tendon Transcriptome

To investigate which mRNA and miRNA are involved in Dicer KO mouse tendon hypoplasticity, we performed RNA-seq and small RNA-seq using RNA from Achilles tendon of Cont (Dicer f/f), Scx HT (ScxCre/+ Knock In:Dicer +/+) and Dicer KO (ScxCre/+ Knock In:Dicer f/f) mice at 4 weeks of age. Achilles tendon from 4-week-old female mice was harvested, RNA was isolated using an RNA extraction kit. RNA libraries were generated and sequenced by K. K. DNAFORM (Tokyo, Japan). The libraries were sequenced by Illumina HISEQ4000 using Illumina provided protocol. Differential gene expression was analyzed with R Bioconductor DESeq2. We found that a large portion of tendon-fibroblast characteristic genes was downregulated in Dicer KO mice Achilles tendon compared to Cont and Scx HT. mRNA and miRNA profiles of 4-week-old wild-type, Dicer KO and Scx HT Achilles tendon tissue