GSE174178
mRNA-seq analysis of RAGE knock-in (RageAHA/AHA) and RAGE-/- mice
Cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) plays an essential role in RAGE signaling by inducing RAGE oligomerization. To understand the physiological significance of HS-induced RAGE oligomerization in vivo, we generated RAGE knock-in mice (RageAHA/AHA) by introducing point mutations to specifically disrupt HS–RAGE interaction. The RAGE variant expressed by RageAHA/AHA mice demonstrated normal ligand-binding but greatly impaired capacity of HS-binding and oligomerization. To grasp the full scale of the alteration in gene expression caused by knocking out Rage, we performed a RNAseq analysis of mature neutrophils and lung from WT, RageAHA/AHA and Rage-/- mice. The overall number of differently regulated genes (DEGs) in Rage-/- neutrophils were almost 2.5 times higher than in RageAHA/AHA neutrophils (603 vs. 247). In contrast, the number of DEGs were much less in lungs compared to neutrophils in both strains (202 DEGs in Rage-/- lungs and merely 31 DEGs in RageAHA/AHA lungs),  however the difference between the two genotypes was even more dramatic in lungs (7-fold) than we observed in neutrophils (2.5-fold). By comparing transcriptomes of neutrophils and lung tissues from RageAHA/AHA and Rage-/- mice, we present clear evidence that complete deficiency of RAGE had much broader impact on global gene expression compared to point mutations of RAGE. Overall design: PMN and lung mRNA profiles of  wild type (WT), RAGE knock-in (RageAHA/AHA) and RAGE-/- mice