CF mice on the mixed background have reduced expression of inflammatory markers
Previous work showed that CF mice on the B6 background have an innate-type inflammation of the small intestine [21]. To determine whether the mixed genetic background affected expression of inflammatory marker genes, quantitative, real-time RT-PCR was used to measure gene expression. Expression of the following genes was compared in wild type and CF mice on the different genetic backgrounds. Mast cell protease 2 (Mcpt2) is a marker of differentiated mast cells [22] and mast cells are more abundant in the B6 CF mouse intestine. Leucine-rich α2 glycoprotein (Lrg1, [23]) is a marker of differentiating neutrophils, which are more numerous in the B6 CF mouse intestine. The same gene is also known as leucine-rich high endothelial cell glycoprotein (Lrhg) and has been shown to be a marker of high endothelial venules (HEV) [24] which increase in tissues during inflammation [25,26]. Hematopoietic cell transcript 1 (HemT1, [27]) is a marker of blood cell proliferation and its expression is strongly elevated in the B6 CF mouse small intestine. Serum amyloid A3 (SAA3, [28]) is an acute phase gene and its expression in villus epithelial cells is increased in the B6 CF intestine. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3, [29]) is an anti-inflammatory gene that interacts with the JAK-STAT pathway and its expression in increased in the B6 CF intestine. Muclin (also known as dmbt1, [30]) expression is upregulated in the B6 CF intestine; it is a cell surface glycoprotein postulated to be an epithelial protective molecule [21,31].
Consistent with previous results, Mcpt2 was increased in CF mice on the B6 background by over 9-fold compared to wild type (Fig. 2A). By contrast, there was not a significant difference in Mcpt2 expression between CF and wild type on the mixed background (Fig. 2A). Lrg1/Lrhg expression was increased more than 20-fold in CF mice on the B6 background compared to wild type, but there was no significant difference between CF and wild type on the mixed background (Fig. 2B). SAA3 mRNA was about 3.5-fold increased in CF mice on the B6 background, but was not significantly different compared to wild type on the mixed background (Fig. 2C). SOCS3 was more than 2-fold increased in CF mice on the B6 background compared to wild type, and on the mixed background was only 1.5-fold greater than wild type, and the difference was not significant (Fig. 2D). Muclin is overexpressed almost 3-fold in the CF intestine on the B6 background, but on the mixed background the expression level in CF mice was not significantly different than wild type (Fig. 2E). Finally, HemT1 was overexpressed almost 20-fold in B6 CF mice compared to wild type, and on the mixed background the CF expression level was not statistically different from wild type (Fig. 2F).
Figure 2  Effect of genetic background on inflammatory gene expression in CF mouse small intestine. RNA expression levels were determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR using gene-specific primers. Data are expressed relative to GAPDH mRNA, which does not vary between wild type and CF mice. Data are means ± SEM. (*) CF vs wild type on the B6 background, P < 0.005; (+) CF on the mixed background vs CF on the B6 background, P < 0.05 by ANOVA with a post-hoc Tukey's test. There were no significant differences for any of the 6 genes comparing: wild type B6 mice vs wild type mixed background; or CF mice on the mixed background vs wild type on either background. There were 8–11 samples analyzed per group for each gene. Because of the gender differences in body weight, the gene expression data were analyzed by gender but there was no significant difference between females and males. With the limited number of animals, there was also no evidence for imprinting.