Gene expression changes in embryonic PECAM-1+ cells from Gata2 +9.5 enhancer targeted mice

We have generated a nonconditionall deletion of an E-box - GATA motif composite element from a putative enhancer 9.5 kb downstream of the Gata2 1S promoter. The mutation results in lethality at E13.5 to E14.5 with embryos exhibiting dectects in definitive hematopoiesis and vasculature integrity. Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are nearly absent from these mice and Gata2 expression is severely reduced in Pecam-1+ endothelial cells from E12.5-12.5 embryos but is expressed at normal levels in the embryonic brain. We have employed gene expression profiling in Pecam-1+ cells from wild type and Gata 2+9.5 mutant littermates to identify genes involved in maintaining vascular integrity. The Gata2+9.5 mutation was backcrossed into the C57Bl/6J background. Anti-CD31 antibody bound to magnetic beads was used to enrich for PECAM-1+ cells from four Gata2+9.5 E12.5 embryos and four wild type littermates from two litters. A single RNA sample from each embryo was used for array hybridization.