title: Transcriptome response to heat stress in a chicken hepatocellular carcinoma cell line.
abstract: Heat stress triggers an evolutionarily conserved set of responses in cells. The transcriptome responds to hyperthermia by altering expression of genes to adapt the cell or organism to survive the heat challenge. RNA-seq technology allows rapid identification of environmentally responsive genes on a large scale. In this study, we have used RNA-seq to identify heat stress responsive genes in the chicken male white leghorn hepatocellular (LMH) cell line. The transcripts of 812 genes were responsive to heat stress (p < 0.01) with 235 genes upregulated and 577 downregulated following 2.5 h of heat stress. Among the upregulated were genes whose products function as chaperones, along with genes affecting collagen synthesis and deposition, transcription factors, chromatin remodelers, and genes modulating the WNT and TGF-beta pathways. Predominant among the downregulated genes were ones that affect DNA replication and repair along with chromosomal segregation. Many of the genes identified in this study have not been previously implicated in the heat stress response. These data extend our understanding of the transcriptome response to heat stress with many of the identified biological processes and pathways likely to function in adapting cells and organisms to hyperthermic stress. Furthermore, this study should provide important insight to future efforts attempting to improve species abilities to withstand heat stress through genome-wide association studies and breeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lamont
authors.affiliation: School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cooksey
authors.affiliation: School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Catalina O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Tudor
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vijay-Shanker
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
authors.forename: Rachael M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: DeRita
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rothschild
authors.affiliation: Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ashwell
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Persia
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA. schmidtc@udel.edu.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8386-4781
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002645:Chickens; D018869:Heat-Shock Response / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Chicken; Heat stress; LMH cells; RNA-seq; Transcriptome