title: Age and vitamin E-induced changes in gene expression profiles of T cells.
abstract: T cells are vulnerable to age-associated changes. Vitamin E has been shown to improve T cell functions in the old. We studied gene expression profiles of T cells to better understand the underlying mechanisms of age and vitamin E-induced changes in T cell function. Young and old C57BL mice were fed diets containing 30 (control) or 500 (supplemented) ppm of vitamin E for 4 wks. Gene expression profiles of T cells were assessed using microarray analysis with/without anti-CD3/anti-CD28 stimulation. Genes associated with cytokines/chemokines, transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, cell cycle, and apoptosis were significantly up-regulated upon stimulation. Higher SOCS3 and lower growth factor independent 1 (Gfi-1) expression in old T cells may contribute to age-associated decline in proliferation. Higher Gadd45 and lower Bcl2 expression may contribute to increased apoptosis in old T cells. Vitamin E supplementation resulted in higher expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation (Ccnb2, Cdc2, Cdc6) in old T cells. Vitamin E supplementation resulted in higher up-regulation of IL-2 expression in young and old T cells and lower up-regulation of IL-4 expression in old T cells following stimulation. These findings suggest that aging has significant effects on the expression of genes associated with signal transduction, transcriptional regulation, and apoptosis pathways in T cells, and vitamin E has a significant impact on the expression of genes associated with cell cycle and Th1/Th2 balance in old T cells. Further studies are needed to determine whether these changes are due to the effects of aging at a single-cell level or to the shift in the ratio of naïve:memory T cells with age.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111, USA. sungnim.han@tufts.edu
authors.forename: Sung Nim
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Oskar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adolfsson
authors.forename: Cheol-Koo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Prolla
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ordovas
authors.forename: Simin Nikbin
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Meydani
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D014810:Vitamin E