title: Differential gene expression by styrene in rat reproductive tissue.
abstract: Styrene is an important industrial chemical that is extensively used in the production of resins, rubbers and fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Exposing male rats to high doses of styrene may produce sperm abnormalities or infertility. To determine the mechanism underlying styrene-mediated toxicity in male reproductive organs, a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology was employed using annealing control primers (ACPs) to identify the differentially expressed genes following styrene treatment in isolated testis of male rats. By using 120 ACPs, a total of 6 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of genes were differentially expressed in styrene-treated rats, as compared to untreated, which were cloned and sequenced. Of the genes analyzed, 5 genes (testis-specific expressed gene 101, protein kinase C, H+-ATPase isoform 2, peroxiredoxin 1, and aquaporin 9) were inducible and one gene expression (clusterin) was significantly suppressed by styrene. Regulation of each gene by styrene was confirmed by RT-PCR. It was shown that styrene decreased clusterin expression in a concentration-dependent manner and these effects occurred mainly in testis. Taken together, these results indicate that repression of clusterin gene expression by styrene may play an important role in styrene-mediated toxicities.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jee Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Chang-Su
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Mie Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Chun
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D051152:Clusterin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects*; D020058:Styrene / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: C498500:Clu protein, rat; D051152:Clusterin; D020058:Styrene