Kidney of MFP2-/-

The MFP2-/- (multifunctional protein 2) is a multifunctional enzyme with discovery in connection with different metabolic pathways. It is involved in beta-oxidation of branched fatty acids and long chain fatty acids in peroxisomes and in sythesis of bile fatty acids. MFP2 knock out mouse was made with a phenotype only visible in homozygotes (severe growth retardation, 40% mortality during the first week after birht, reduction of fertility in males, less activity). The studies have been performed to identify changes in gene expression levels in kidney due to clinical chemical changes in the phenotype of this mutant mouse line during a screening in the German Mouse Clinic. Keywords: dual colour hybridisation on cDNA microarrays, MFP2, Hsd17b4, kidney DNA chip technology has been exploited for RNA expression profiling analyses. Close to genomewide microarrays were used for identification of changes in gene expression levels in kidney of 4 MFP2-/- mice. Individual mutant mice were hybridised in repetitions against a pool of 5 reference animals. In total 16 chip hybridisations were performed including 50% dye swap experiments.

MFP2-/-（多功能蛋白2，multifunctional protein 2）是一种多功能酶，其发现与多条代谢通路密切相关。该酶参与过氧化物酶体（peroxisome）内支链脂肪酸与长链脂肪酸的β-氧化过程，同时参与胆汁脂肪酸的合成。
MFP2基因敲除小鼠的表型仅在纯合子（homozygote）中显现，具体包括严重生长迟缓、出生后第一周内40%的死亡率、雄性生育能力下降以及活动量减少。
本研究依托德国小鼠临床中心（German Mouse Clinic）开展的筛选工作，针对该突变小鼠品系表型相关的临床化学变化，旨在鉴定其肾脏组织的基因表达水平变化。
关键词：cDNA微阵列（cDNA microarray）双色杂交、MFP2、Hsd17b4、肾脏
研究采用DNA芯片技术开展RNA表达谱分析，使用近乎全基因组范围的微阵列，对4只MFP2-/-小鼠的肾脏组织基因表达水平变化进行鉴定。每只突变小鼠均与5只参考动物的混合样本进行重复杂交实验，共计完成16次芯片杂交，其中包含50%的荧光染料互换（dye swap）实验。