Gene expression profiling in spleens of deoxynivalenol-exposed mice: immediate early genes as primary targets.

Exposure to the trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) alters immune functions in vitro and in vivo. To gain further insight into DON's immunotoxic effects, microarrays were used to determine how acute exposure to this mycotoxin modulates gene expression profiles in murine spleen. B6C3F1 mice were treated orally with 25mg/kg body weight DON, and 2h later spleens were collected for macroarray analysis. Following normalization using a local linear regression model, expression of 116 out of 1176 genes was significantly altered compared to average expression levels in all treatment groups. When genes were arranged into an ontology tree to facilitate comparison of expression profiles between treatment groups, DON was found primarily to modulate genes associated with immunity, inflammation, and chemotaxis. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm modulation for selected genes. DON was found to induce the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and IL-11. In analogous fashion, DON upregulated expression of the chemokines macrophage inhibitory protein-2 (MIP-2), cytokine-induced chemoattractant protein-1 (CINC-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, MCP-3, and cytokine-responsive gene-2 (CRG-2). c-Fos, Fra-, c-Jun, and JunB, components of the activator protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factor complex, were induced by DON as well as another transcription factor, NR4A1. Four hydrolases were found to be upregulated by DON, including mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP1), catalytic subunit beta isoform (CnAbeta), protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type J (Ptprj), and protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 8 (Ptpn8), whereas three other hydrolases, microsomal epoxide hydrolase (Eph) 1, histidine triad nucleotide binding protein (Hint), and proteosome subunit beta type 8 (Psmb8) were significantly decreased by the toxin. Finally, cysteine-rich protein 61 (CRP61) and heat-shock protein 40 (Hsp40), genes associated with signaling, were increased, while Jun kinase 2 (JNK2) was decreased. Taken together, data suggest that DON upregulated the expression of multiple immediate early genes, many of which are likely to contribute to the complex immunological effects reported for this and other trichothecenes.