Effect of dexamethasone treatment on the transcriptome of injured mouse hamstring muscle

Healthy muscle heals and repairs after injury. However, when mice are treated with dexamethasone, an agonist of glucocorticoid receptors, heterotopic ossifications (HO) develop in the injured muscle within fibrotic areas that fail to fully regenerate functional muscle. To understand the mechanisms driving heterotopic ossification in response to glucocorticoid receptor agonists, we performed RNA seqencing analysis on injured muscle. Mice underwent muscle injuries by intramuscular injection of cardiotoxin (CDTX). All mice were treated with either vehicle or dexamethasone (10mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection) daily from day 0-4. polyA+ RNA was isolated from whole muscle 4 days post injury, libraries generated and sequenced.