Gene expression profiling of primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells in Tgfbr2 mutant mouse models

The overall goal of this project is to investigate the role of TGF-beta signaling in regulating the cellular metabolism of cranial neural crest (CNC) cells during palate development. Here, we conducted gene expression profiling of primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM) cells from wild type mice as well as those with a neural crest specific conditional inactivation of the Tgfbr2 gene. The latter mice provide a model of cleft palate, which is among the most common congenital birth defects and observed in many syndromic conditions. To investigate the adverse effects of dysfunctional TGF-Beta signaling on the cellular metabolism of palatal mesenchyme during palatogenesis, we analyzed mice with a neural crest cell-specific conditional inactivation of Tgfbr2 (Tgfbr2fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre). We performed microarray analyses of primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells of Tgfbr2fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre mutant mice and Tgfbr2fl/fl control mice, collected at embryonic day 13.5 (n=4 per genotype) and cultured with standard media (DMEM with supplements). Cells were collected after 2 passages.