ABSTRACT
The choice of housekeeping proteins or genes for internal standards should be made carefully, taking into account the cell and tissue type, the experimental conditions, and the healthy/disease state(s) under consideration. Furthermore, as the correlation between transcriptional and translational levels of commonly used housekeeping genes is often discussed, this study shed light on the transcriptional levels of beta-actin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and the translational levels of beta-actin, GAPDH, and beta-tubulin in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse model.
Subject(s)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/metabolism , Proteins/metabolism , RNA/metabolism , Actins/biosynthesis , Animals , Brain/metabolism , Disease Models, Animal , Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases/biosynthesis , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism , Spinal Cord/metabolism , Transcription, Genetic , Tubulin/metabolismABSTRACT
In the present study, we used the SOD1 (G93A) mutant transgenic mice as a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This model is widely used as a laboratory tool to study experimental treatments in vivo for ALS to investigate new therapeutic strategies for this neurodegenerative disease. Such studies require the objective quantification of different parameters while mice develop the disease. We have applied a battery of different and specific tests: scoring of motor deficits by a trained observer, weighing, survival measure, hanging wire test, rotarod task and electromyography, most of them commonly used to evaluate G93A animals. We have critically compared these methods, showing the significant influence of gender on the onset of symptoms, and the optimal moment to apply each test. These results should be taken into account in future therapeutic assays on this ALS model.
