Male Wistar rats were subjected to MI, and infarcted myocardial tissue was collected at 3, 6, 12, 24 h, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after MI. ADAMTS4, ADAMTS8, and the four housekeeping genes were quantified using qPCR and the expression stability of the four housekeeping genes was investigated using GeNorm software. The protein levels of ADAMTS4 were detected using ELISA kits.
The M values of GAPDH, ACTB, ARBP and RPL13A were 0.721, 1.2, 0.812 and 0.812 respectively. GAPDH and ARBP were ranked the most stable genes. ADAMTS4 mRNA increased at 3 h after MI, peaked at 6 h, then decreased rapidly. ADAMTS8 mRNA increased at 6 h, peaked at 24 h, remained high at 3 d, then decreased gradually. The protein levels of ADAMTS4 were significantly increased at 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 3 d after MI.
The results suggest that GAPDH and ARBP are two appropriate housekeeping genes for the rat MI model. Both ADAMTS4 and ADAMTS8 mRNA levels and ADAMTS4 protein level increased, but they exhibited different expression profiles.