Molecular profiling of the developing lacrimal gland. Mus musculus

Although normal function of the lacrimal gland (LG) is essential for vision (and thus, for human well-being), the LG remains rather poorly understood at molecular level. The purpose of this study was to identify new genes and signaling cascades involved in LG development. Overall design: To characterize and compare lacrimal glands isolated from embryonic and adult mice, we studied gene expression in these glands using Mouse Exonic Evidence Based Oligonucleotide (MEEBO) microarrays. To perform this experiment, RNA extracted from lacrimal glands of 3-month-old (adult) mice and embryonic day 16.5 (E16.5) fetuses was used for microarray analysis. A total of three independent biological replicates of E16.5 lacrimal glands and three independent biological replicates of adult lacrimal glands were obtained for comparative profiling.

尽管泪腺（lacrimal gland, LG）的正常功能对视觉健康乃至人类整体福祉至关重要，但目前学界对其分子层面的调控机制仍知之甚少。本研究旨在鉴定参与泪腺发育的全新基因与信号级联通路。实验设计概述：为表征并比较胚胎期与成年小鼠的泪腺组织，我们采用小鼠外显子证据寡核苷酸（Mouse Exonic Evidence Based Oligonucleotide, MEEBO）微阵列技术，对这些组织的基因表达情况进行分析。本实验使用了取自3月龄成年小鼠以及胚胎第16.5天（E16.5）胎鼠的泪腺提取的RNA，用于微阵列检测。本研究共获取3组独立的E16.5胎鼠泪腺生物学重复样本，以及3组独立的成年小鼠泪腺生物学重复样本，用于对比分析。