Analysis of expression in SOD1 transgenic mouse spinal cord

mRNA expression in the spinal cords of the G93A-SOD1 familial ALS transgenic mouse model was compared to that in nontransgenic (Normal mouse) and transgenic mice expressing wild-type (WT)SOD1. Gene Ontology (GO)analysis was used to characterize differences in expression between G93A-SOD1 mouse and nontransgenic mouse spinal cord. Changes in multiple GO categories were found. Many of these were associated with subsystems involving cell-cell communication and intracellular signal transduction. Expression profiles of mice expressing WT-SOD1 did not differ from nontransgenic mice. In contrast, protein profiling using proteomics technology indicated changes in mitochondrial protein expression in the G93A-SOD1 mouse spinal cord that were not found in the mRNA expression analysis. Keywords: Disease state analysis, time course, transgenic mice Spinal cord mRNA expression was profiled using Affymetrix gene chips. 75-day old animals expressing G93A-SOD1 are presymptomatic, while 110-day animals display tremor and partial paralysis characteristic of ALS. WT-SOD1 animals exhibit no disease phenotype at 75 or 110 days. Nontransgenic mice at 75 and 110 days served as controls.