Whole Genome Expression in Peripheral-Blood Samples of Workers Professionally Exposed to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract

This study aims to examine global gene expression profiles before and after the work-shift among coke-oven workers (COW). COW work six consecutive days and then take two days off. Two blood and urine samples in each worker were collected before starting to work after two-days off and end-of-shift in the sixth-day work in 2009. Altered gene expressions (ratio of gene expression levels between end-of-shift and pre-shift work) were performed by Human OneArray expression system which probes ∼30,000-transcription expression profiling of human genes. Sixteen workers, all men, were enrolled in this study. Median urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1OHP) levels (μmole/mole creatinine) in end-of-shift work were significantly higher than those in pre-shift work (2.58 vs. 0.29, p = 0.0002). Among the 20,341 genes which passed experimental quality control, 26 gene expression changes, 7 positive and 19 negative, were highly correlated with across-the-shift urinary 1OHP levels (end-of-shift – pre-shift 1OHP) (p-value < 0.001). The high and low exposure groups of across-the-shift urinary 1OHP levels dichotomized in ∼2.00 μmole/mole creatinine were able to be distinguished by these 26 genes. Some of them are known to be involved in apoptosis, chromosome stability/DNA repair, cell cycle control/tumor suppressor, cell adhesion, development/spermatogenesis, immune function, and neuronal cell function. These findings in COW will be an ideal model to study the relationship of PAHs exposure with acute changes of gene expressions.

Structurally distinct polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induce differential transcriptional responses in developing zebrafish

“…We therefore would not expect to see substantial overlap between the genes observed in this study and others conducted with tissues from adult organisms. Nevertheless, calcium binding and immune response were identified as important differentially expressed gene clusters in human macrophage leukemia cells exposed to diverse PAHs in vitro, and metal ion binding and transport was the most significant biological process associated with occupational PAH exposure in peripheral blood of coke-oven workers (Wan et al , 2008; Wu et al , 2011b). Chronic PAH exposure in coke-oven workers has also been associated with altered immunological parameters, including increased TNFα in serum, as well increased markers of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress (Jeng et al , 2011).…”

Identification of Biomarkers for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Using Feature Selection and Decision Tree Methods

“…The detailed experimental method is described elsewhere [ 16 ]. Each cDNA sample from the paired tumor and normal parts of the 17 ECC patients was hybridized; thus, a total of 34 chips were used in this study.…”

Bayesian Network Inference Enables Unbiased Phenotypic Anchoring of Transcriptomic Responses to Cigarette Smoke in Humans

“…DNA adducts have indeed been proven to prospectively indicate lung cancer risks in smokers . Differential gene expression in human peripheral blood cells in vivo , responsive to life style, environmental, or occupational exposures, has been reported in several studies (e.g., refs − ). In a previous study among smokers and nonsmokers, we have observed significantly affected expressions of relevant genes such as CYP1B1 (cytochrome P450 1B1) and SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2) and investigated correlations of gene expression and aromatic DNA-adduct levels.…”