TfRc Dependent Gene Expression in Embryonic Renal Cells

We investigated the ability of transferrin receptor1 (TfRc) knockout cells to populate different domains of the developing kidney by using a chimeric approach. The TfRc cells developed into all segments of the developing nephron, but there was a relative exclusion from the ureteric bud and a positive bias towards the stromal compartment. Here we conducted a microarray analysis of differential gene expression between TfRc deficient and wild type (wt) cells in chimeric embryonic kidneys derived from embryos created by blastocyst injection of wt blastocysts with TfRc-/- green fluorescent protein-expressing (GFP+) embryonic stem cells. Keywords: cell type comparison, genetic modification, iron signaling Following blastocyst injection of 3-5 TfRc-/- GFP+ embryonic stem cells in wt blstocysts, we harvested the chimeric kidney at day E15.5 and separated the TfRc-/- GFP+ cell population from wt GFP- cell population by using fluorescence activated cell sorting. Biotinlyated cRNA was prepared from the isolated cells and hybridized to Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Arrays (Affymetrix) according to standard protocols.