Identification of regulated genes in rat heart after myocardial infarctionby means of differential mRNA display

In order to testify the hypothesis that unknown mechanisms are involved in the process of cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI), we empl oyed differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ( DDRT-PCR) as our primary inspection tool. An animal model of MI was establi shed by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in r at. Fifty upregulated candidate cDNA fragments were obtained in the right v entricle (RV) of the heart six weeks after MI. Eight cDNA fragments isolate d From DD denaturing gel were extracted and reamplified, cloned into pCR II vector and sequenced. A Genbank search of these clones showed that three o f them have a high homology with known genes not previously associated with cardiac remodeling, i.e., mouse interleukin-4 receptor gene, rat ferritin mRNA, and T-cell receptor beta chain V beta 5. The remaining clones have no similarity to known sequences. These data suggest that certain genes which were not previously being associated with cardiac hypertrophy are turned o n during the process of cardiac remodeling after MI.