Nanostring miRNA exprssion profiling analysis of splenocytes from 17-β estradiol (E2) and synthetic 17α-ethinyl estradiol (EE) exposed feamle NZB/WF1 lupus mice

We used the NanoString mouse nCounter miRNA expression platform to compare the miRNA expression profiles of spelnocytes from placebo-, E2, and EE exposed NZB/WF1 mice. We found that EE exposure has a more profound effect than E2 on miRNA genes expression in splenocytes Female NZB/WF1 lupus mice received E2, EE, or empty (placebo control) implant treatment at 6-7 weeks of age. After 9 wks of treatment, the mice were terminated and splenocytes were isolated and collected. Total RNAs were extracted from splenocytes with miRNeasy Mini Kit and sent to NanoString Technologies for gene profiling analysis with nCounter mouse miRNA V1.5 Assay kit.