Expression data from embryonic mouse spinal cords from NFIX knockout and wild-type mice.

The generation of cellular identity and diversity within the developing spinal cord is critically dependent on networks of gene expression controlled by transcription factors, such as Nuclear Factor One X (NFIX). NFIX has been identified as an important factor in promoting astrocyte formation during embryonic mouse spinal cord development. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the transcriptional landscape controlled by NFIX within the developing spinal cord, here we performed microarray analysis on E14.5 wild-type and Nfix-/- mouse spinal cords, the age at which the expression of NFIX by neural progenitor cells lining the spinal central canal is strongest. Whole spinal cords from Nfix-/- mouse embryos at E14.5 (and wild-type littermate controls; n=4) were dissected for RNA extraction and hybridization on an Affymetrix Mouse Transcriptome Analysis microarray.

发育中的脊髓内细胞身份的确立与多样性的形成，高度依赖于由转录因子（如核因子一X（Nuclear Factor One X，NFIX））所调控的基因表达网络。核因子一X（NFIX）已被证实为小鼠胚胎脊髓发育过程中促进星形胶质细胞形成的重要调控因子。为更全面解析发育中脊髓内NFIX所调控的转录调控图谱，本研究对胚胎发育第14.5天（E14.5）的野生型与Nfix基因敲除（Nfix-/-）小鼠脊髓开展了基因芯片分析——该时间点正是脊髓中央管内衬的神经前体细胞表达NFIX水平最高的时期。我们解剖了E14.5天Nfix-/-小鼠胚胎（及其野生型同窝对照，样本量n=4）的完整脊髓，提取RNA后在Affymetrix小鼠转录组分析芯片上完成杂交实验。