title: Determination of differential gene expression profiles in superficial and deeper zones of mature rat articular cartilage using RNA sequencing of laser microdissected tissue specimens.
abstract: Superficial zone (SFZ) cells, which are morphologically and functionally distinct from chondrocytes in deeper zones, play important roles in the maintenance of articular cartilage. Here, we established an easy and reliable method for performance of laser microdissection (LMD) on cryosections of mature rat articular cartilage using an adhesive membrane. We further examined gene expression profiles in the SFZ and the deeper zones of articular cartilage by performing RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). We validated sample collection methods, RNA amplification and the RNA-seq data using real-time RT-PCR. The combined data provide comprehensive information regarding genes specifically expressed in the SFZ or deeper zones, as well as a useful protocol for expression analysis of microsamples of hard tissues.
authors.affiliation: Sensory & Motor System Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Ung-Il
authors.initials: UI
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Sakae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000378:metabolism*; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D016616:Cryoultramicrotomy / Q000379:methods; D061346:Laser Capture Microdissection; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*; D059467:Transcriptome