Global gene expression analysis of lenses from different mouse strains and in the α3Cx46 knockout mouse

摘要

Purpose: Disruption of the mouse geneencoding the gap junction subunit α3 connexin 46 (α3Cx46)results in the formation of lens cataracts that have a severityaffected by the genetic background of the mouse strain. To identify thegenes that influence the severity of the nuclear opacity, global geneexpression was analyzed in lenses from the 129SvJae strain and comparedto the C57BL/6J strain. Methods: Lens transcripts were subjectedto cDNA microarray analysis. Results on selected genes were confirmedby real-time PCR. Results: Genes that were determined tobe altered in expression levels as a result of strain differences couldbe clustered into three groups: energy metabolism, stress response, andcell growth. Conclusions: There were no observedchanges in gene expression as a result of the lack of α3Cx46 inthe different mouse strains, suggesting that the pathways mediated bythis connexin do not influence gene transcription in the lens. Analysisof the transcript changes due to strain differences provides newinsights into potential genetic modifiers of cataractogenesis. Moredetailed experimentation will be needed to determine if these observedchanges do indeed affect cataractogenesis.