Difference in gene expression of macrophage between normal spleen and portal hypertensive spleen identified by cDNA microarray.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the difference in gene expression of microphage (Mphi) between normal spleen and portal hypertensive spleen using cDNA microarrays and find new gene functions associated with hypersplenism in portal hypertension.


METHODS
The Biostar-H140s chip containing 14112 spots of cDNAs were used to investigate the difference of the expression. The total RNA extracted from macrophages isolated from both normal spleen and portal hypertensive spleen was reversely transcribed to cDNA with the incorporation of fluorescent (cy3 and cy5) labeled dCTP to prepare the hybridization probes. After hybridization, the gene chip was scanned for the fluorescent intensity. The differentially expressed genes were screened. That was repeated three times, and only the genes which had differential expression in all three chips were considered to be associated with hypersplenism in portal hypertension.


RESULTS
Eight hundred and ninety-six, 1330 and 898 genes were identified to be differentially expressed in three chips, respectively. One hundred and twenty-one genes (0.86%) were identified to be differentially expressed in all three chips, including 21 up-regulated genes and 73 down-regulated genes. The differentially expressed genes were related to ionic channel and transport protein, cyclin, cytoskeleton, cell receptor, cell signal conduct, metabolism, immune, and so on. These genes might be related to the hypersplenism in portal hypertension.


CONCLUSIONS
The investigations based on cDNA microarray can screen differentially expressed genes of macrophages between normal spleen and portal hypertensive spleen, thus may provide a new idea in studying the pathogenesis of hypersplenism in portal hypertension.
Postdoctoral Station, Department of Hepato-Biliary Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, Fujian Province, China. yanyisheng_ricky@tom.com
Feng
F
Yan
Xiao-Min
XM
Wang
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000378:metabolism*; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein / Q000235:genetics; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D051745:Protein Kinase C-delta / Q000235:genetics; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism*
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C485678:DBF4 protein, human; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein; C497258:PRKCD protein, human; D051745:Protein Kinase C-delta