基因芯片筛选氯化汞对大鼠脑神经毒性差异表达基因

为了筛选汞神经毒性差异表达基因和探讨汞神经毒性分子机制,采用基因芯片技术,研究了大鼠皮下注射0.5mg/kg的HgCl₂ 1h后脑中基因表达的变化.结果表明,基因表达谱中差异表达基因共有742条,上调基因562条,下调基因180条.生物信息学分析表明,差异表达基因中有免疫应答及解毒作用相关基因、遗传信息传递与表达相关基因、细胞信号传导基因、神经传导基因、细胞增殖与分化基因、细胞调亡等多种基因.分析结果提示这些基因的差异表达可能与汞神经毒性有关.利用基因芯片技术筛选相关基因,为深入阐明汞神经毒性的作用机制提供了新思路.

Analyzing Differentially Expressed Genes in the Brain of Rat Exposed to Mercury Chloride Using cDNA Microarray

This study is to determine differentially expressed genes in the brain of rat exposed to mercury chloride and investigate the molecular mechanism of mercury neurotoxicity using cDNA microarray.The experimental group of rats were treated with 0.5 mg/kg weight of mercury chloride via hypodermic injection.The differentially expressed genes in rat brains after 1 h of injection were scanned by the cDNA microarray.The gene expression profiles show that there are 742 genes,in which 562 are upregulated and 180 are downregulated.Further analysis by bioinformatic technique disclosed that the differentially expressed genes were involved in many biological processes,which included immuno-response and detoxifcation,transfer and expression of genetic information,cell signalling,neurotransduction,cell proliferation and cell differentiation,apoptosis,etc.The result of analysis indicated these genes might be related to the neurotoxicity of mercury.The investigation of differentially expressed genes using cDNA microarray provides a new approach to further disclose the neurotoxic mechanism of mercury.