Genes related to the very early stage of ConA-induced fulminant hepatitis: a gene-chip-based study in a mouse model.
BACKGROUND
Due to the high morbidity and mortality of fulminant hepatitis, early diagnosis followed by early effective treatment is the key for prognosis improvement. So far, little is known about the gene expression changes in the early stage of this serious illness. Identification of the genes related to the very early stage of fulminant hepatitis development may provide precise clues for early diagnosis.


RESULTS
Balb/C mice were used for ConA injection to induce fulminant hepatitis that was confirmed by pathological and biochemical examination. After a gene chip-based screening, the data of gene expression in the liver, was further dissected by ANOVA analysis, gene expression profiles, gene network construction and real-time RT-PCR. At the very early stage of ConA-triggered fulminant hepatitis, totally 1,473 genes with different expression variations were identified. Among these, 26 genes were finally selected for further investigation. The data from gene network analysis demonstrate that two genes, MPDZ and Acsl1, localized in the core of the network.


CONCLUSIONS
At the early stages of fulminant hepatitis, expression of twenty-six genes involved in protein transport, transcription regulation and cell metabolism altered significantly. These genes form a network and have shown strong correlation with fulminant hepatitis development. Our study provides several potential targets for the early diagnosis of fulminant hepatitis.
Chen
Feng
F
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Diagnosis and Treatment, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, 310003, China.
Zhu
Hai-Hong
HH
Zhou
Lin-Fu
LF
Li
Jie
J
Zhao
Li-Ying
LY
Wu
Shan-Shan
SS
Wang
Jing
J
Liu
Wei
W
Chen
Zhi
Z
D000465:Algorithms; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003208:Concanavalin A; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006520:Hepatitis, Animal / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics*; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
D003208:Concanavalin A
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