mRNA and microRNA transcriptomics analyses in a murine model of dystrophin loss and therapeutic restoration

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a pediatric, X-linked, progressive muscle-wasting disorder caused by loss of function mutations affecting the gene encoding the dystrophin protein. While the primary genetic insult in DMD is well described, many details of the molecular and cellular pathologies that follow dystrophin loss are incompletely understood. To investigate gene expression in dystrophic muscle we have applied mRNA and microRNA (miRNA) microarray technology to the mdx mouse model of DMD. This study was designed to generate a complete description of gene expression changes associated with dystrophic pathology and the response to an experimental therapy which restores dystrophin protein function. These datasets have enabled (1) the determination of gene expression changes associated with dystrophic pathology, (2) identification of differentially expressed genes that are restored towards wild-type levels after therapeutic dystrophin rescue, (3) investigation of the correlation between mRNA and protein expression (determined by parallel mass spectrometry proteomics analysis), and (4) prediction of pathology associated miRNA-target interactions. Here we describe in detail how the data were generated including the basic analysis as contained in the manuscript published in Human Molecular Genetics with PMID 26385637. The data have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with the accession number GSE64420.