Reference Gene Optimization for Ganglia of the Sympathetic Nervous System in Male and Female Mice after Exposure to Cold Stress

The sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates the body’s response to psychogenic and systemic stress. In response to stress, endocrine pathways are activated to rebalance physiological changes and restore homeostasis. Gene expression analysis through quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is a key method to assess differential gene expression in tissue and cell samples, with high sensitivity and specificity. To assess differential gene expression between samples, qPCR data must be normalized to two or more reference genes to account for technical variation in nucleic acid loading between samples, ensuring data represents target gene expression due to experimental treatments (1). Reference genes must be selected and tested for each experimental paradigm, showing stability of expression between samples and treatments. Reference genes are usually constitutively expressed genes required for cellular maintenance, such as well known “housekeeping” genes or genes encoding ribosomal RNAs. Ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) are small in size, and thus total yields of RNA for qPCR experiments are limited. Our group has established a protocol for the isolation of adrenal glands, superior cervical, celiac, and stellate ganglia using a dissecting scope and anatomical landmarks in mice. Here we present optimization data assessing five commonly used reference genes for normalization of qPCR data in three ganglia of the SNS (superior cervical, stellate, and celiac) and adrenal glands. We have evaluated their suitability as reference genes in these tissues after acclimation to cold (4°C) stress compared to the same tissues from animals housed at thermoneutrality (30°C). Through qPCR reaction optimization and subsequent calculations of geNorm stability-measure M, we present optimized primer sequences and reaction conditions, and provide recommendations for combinations of three or more reference genes to use for normalization in gene expression analysis experiments in adrenal gland, superior cervical, stellate or celiac ganglia from male and female mice exposed to thermoneutrality or cold. This research will be valuable to groups interested in SNS physiology and facilitate a streamlined approach to gene expression analysis given the low RNA availability from these minute tissue samples, saving valuable sample, costs and time in carrying out qPCR experiments. Reference: (1) Bustin et al., Clin Chem. 2009 Jan 27;55(4):611-622.