Gene expression profiles in the liver of mice irradiated with (60)Co gamma rays and treated with soybean isoflavone.
OBJECTIVE
To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the radio-protective effect of soybean isoflavone that we observed in our recent animal experiments.


METHODS
We utilized a cDNA microarray to investigate the expression profiles of 4,096 known genes in the livers of irradiated-mice with or without soybean isoflavone treatment. Dye swap approach was employed to control for gene-specific dye bias and quantitative real-time RT-PCR was performed on several genes to validate the cDNA microarray data.


RESULTS
Compared with the control group, 68 genes were up-regulated and 28 genes were down-regulated in mice treated with irradiation alone, whereas only 6 genes were down-regulated and 35 genes were up-regulated in mice treated with soybean isoflavone. Interestingly, some of the down-regulated genes in the irradiated group, such as DNA repair and stress response genes and cytoskeleton-associated genes, which are markers of cellular damage after irradiation, were maintained at close to normal expression levels after soybean isoflavone treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Comparison of gene expression profiles in the livers of irradiated-mice treated with or without soybean isoflavone suggested that soybean isoflavone may be an efficient tool to reverse irradiation damage of the liver through multiple-pathways and also provides important clues to further pursue the molecular mechanisms underlying the radio-protective activity of soybean isoflavone.
Song
Li-Hua
LH
Department of Food Science and Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai, China.
Yan
Hong-Li
HL
Cai
Dong-Lian
DL
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005720:Gamma Rays; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000528:radiation effects*; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D051379:Mice; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013025:Glycine max
D007529:Isoflavones