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A gene expression signature of confinement in peripheral blood of red wolves (Canis rufus)

ABSTRACT: Background: The idea of using whole genome microarrays to detect peripheral blood biomarkers for physiological status a fairly new and unexplored method. Identifying biomarkers that can be linked to stress and immune response would be of great importance not only in animal management practices but in humans as well. The main objective of this research was to explore this concept using the North American Red Wolf (Canis rufus) which are exposed to a wide variety of environments from free ranging to confinement. Results: Transcription profiling of peripheral blood samples from 13 red wolf individuals in the Alligator River region of North Carolina revealed a strong signal of differentiation between confined and free-range animals. 482 out of 2,980 transcripts detected on the human Illumina Ref8 oligonucleotide bead arrays were found to differentiate these groups at a false discovery rate of 5 percent. Over-representation of genes in focal adhesion, insulin signaling, proteasomal, and tryptophan metabolism pathways suggests the activation of proinflammatory and stress responses in confined animals. Conclusions: Integration of immunological and physiological signals may leave a signature of lifestyle in the patterns of gene expression in the blood and suggest the possible development of biomarkers for disease and normal conditions. Keywords: Stress Response/Disease State

ORGANISM(S): Canis rufus Canis latrans Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE8020 | GEO | 2007/06/13

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA100821

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Previous studies examining the reproductive health of alligators in Florida lakes indicate that a variety of developmental and health impacts can be attributed to environmental quality and exposures to environmental contaminants. A number of these environmental contaminants have been shown to disrupt normal endocrine signaling. The potential that these environmental toxicants may influence epigenetic status and correlate to the health abnormalities was investigated in the current study. The red blood cell (RBC) (erythrocyte) in the alligator is nucleated so was used as an easily purified marker cell to investigate epigenetic programming. RBCs were collected from adult male alligators captured at three sites in Florida, each characterized by varying degrees of contamination. While Lake Woodruff (WO) has remained relatively pristine, Lake Apopka (AP) and Merritt Island (MI) convey exposures to different suites of contaminants. DNA was isolated and methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) was used to isolate methylated DNA that was then analyzed in a competitive hybridization using a genome-wide alligator tiling array for a MeDIP-Chip analysis. Pairwise comparisons of alligators from AP and MI to WO revealed alterations in the DNA methylome. The AP vs. WO comparison identified 85 differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs) with ≥3 adjacent oligonucleotide tiling array probes and 15,451 DMRs with a single oligo probe analysis. The MI vs. WO comparison identified 75 DMRs with the ≥3 oligo probe and 17,411 DMRs with the single oligo probe analysis. There was negligible overlap between the DMRs identified in AP vs. WO and MI vs. WO comparisons. In both comparisons DMRs were primarily associated with CpG deserts which are regions of low CpG density (1-2 CpG/100bp). Although the alligator genome is not fully annotated, gene associations were identified and correlated to major gene functional categories and pathways. Observations demonstrate that environmental quality is associated with epigenetic programming and status in the alligator. The epigenetic alterations may provide biomarkers to assess the environmental exposures and health impacts on these populations of alligators.

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A gene expression signature of confinement in peripheral blood of red wolves (Canis rufus)

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