Comparison of the transcripts in control and Blimp-1-deficient keratinocytes

We performed microarray analysis to examine the differential gene expression profiles between Prdm1 (Blimp-1)-deleted and control keratinocytes. Keratinocytes isolated from Prdm1-floxed K5-CreER positive (CKO) mice were cultured in the presence of 4OHT to induce deletion of the Prdm1 allele in vitro. Prdm1-floxed K5-CreER positive (CKO) keratinocytes treated with the ethanol solvent control (EtOH) or Prdm1-floxed K5-CreER negative (control) keratinocytes treated with 4OHT or EtOH served as controls. Microarray analyses revealed that there were 93 genes up-regulated and 109 genes down-regulated by more than 2-fold in the CKO + 4OHT group in comparison with the CKO + EtOH, Ctrl + 4OHT or Ctrl + EtOH groups. Several corneocytes-related genes, including Rptn, Lce1f, Krt1 and Lce1d, are significantly down-regulated and several cytokines/chemokines, including Cxcl1, Cxcl2, Cxcl5 and Il24, are significantly up-regulated upon the deletion of Prdm1 in vitro. We analyzed the transcription profiles in control and Blimp-1-deficient keratinocytes using the GeneChip® Mouse Expression Array 430A.