Project description:Increasing evidences have shown that cadmium could caused male infertility. However, the exhaustive mechanisms have not been elucidated in mammals. Here, the mice testes and sperm RNA were used to investigate lncRNA expression profiles by stranded-specific RNA-seq on the transcriptome levels after exposure to cadmium. More LncRNA expression have been changed than mRNA genes by cadmium. Furthermore, many novel LncRNA were inducible expression, suggesting that LncRNA might be a good candidate for indicating the reproductive toxicity of cadmium. The present study provides a preliminary database for further exploring the mechanisms of reproductive toxicity caused by cadmium in mammalians.
Project description:An 8X15k oligonucleotide microarray was developed consisting of 2334 E. glacialis probes and 2166 Tursiops truncatus probes and used to measure the transcriptome level effects of right whale kidney fibroblast cells exposed to cadmium. Cells were exposed to three concentrations of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) for three exposure times. Cells exposed to 10-6M CdCl2 for 4 hours and 24 hours showed upregulated genes involved in protection from metal toxicity, oxidative stress, protein renaturation, apoptosis inhibition, and several regulators of cellular processes. Downregulated genes represented a suite of functions including cell proliferation, transcription regulation, actin polymerization, and stress fiber synthesis. The collection of differentially expressed genes in this study support proposed mechanisms of cadmium-induced apoptosis such as mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, reactive oxygen species (ROS) influx, and cell cycle arrest. The results confirm the right whale microarray as a reproducible tool in measuring differentiated gene expression and should be a valuable asset for transcriptome analysis of other baleen whales and potential health assessment protocols.
Project description:Bioassay is a system for monitoring toxicity of chemicals in the environment via the biological responses of experimental organisms. These responses can be detected by analysis of genome-wide changes in mRNA expression levels using DNA microarray. We applied this system for evaluation of synergistic toxicity by cadmium and thiuram, as this combination showed mutual growth inhibition in yeast. Hierarchical cluster analysis using the mRNA expression profiles suggested the response of yeast to this combination is similar to that seen with cadmium treatment. Functional characterization of induced genes by this combination treatment also suggests the enhanced toxicity of cadmium. This toxicity was observed as the damage to mitochondrial functions which were not observed with either cadmium or thiuram treatments alone. The potential toxicity to mitochondria by this combinational treatment was confirmed as the result of mitochondrial curing. We could evaluate the synergistic toxicity by cadmium and thiuram and show the possible use of transcriptome bioassay for synergistic toxicity. Keywords: stress response
Project description:The purpose of the study are 1) to describe the islet transcriptome profile of cadmium-exposed mice to determine changes in systemic regulatory networks and 2) to describe the transcriptome profile of mouse islets exposed to cadmium in culture/ex vivo to determine gene changes as a direct consequence of cadmium exposure.