Spalax gene expression profiling of muscle and brain under hypoxia

Spalax, an underground fossoral rodant is exposed to chronic hypoxic environments. Measurements of Spalax burrows indicated 7% oxygen and up to 15% CO2. In the laboratory Spalax can survive 3% oxygen up to 14 hours as compared to rats that survive less than 4 hours at these oxygen levels. we have proposed Spalax as a model species for the investigation of hypoxia tolerance. this research has implications for many biomedical phenomena involving ischemic disease, notably heart disease and cancer. In this work we have subjected Spalax to 3%, 6% and 10% O2 levels for varying lengths of time and have profiled expression patterns and differential expression in muscle and brain, two tissues with high energy requirements. For comparison with a terrestrial mammal we have profiled RNA from rats exposed to either 21% or 6% oxygen.