Gene expression profiles and bioinformatics analysis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells exposed to PM.

Cardiovascular system is demonstrated the main target of PM and the objective of this study was to explore the toxic effect and molecular mechanisms caused by PM in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using microarray and bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that 591 genes were differentially expressed triggered by PM, of which 174 genes were down-regulated, while 417 genes were up-regulated. Gene ontology analysis revealed that PM caused significant changes in gene expression patterns, including response to stimuli, immune response, and cellular processes. Pathway analysis and Signal-net analysis suggested that endocytosis, chemokine signaling pathway, RNA transport, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and autophagy regulation were the most critical pathways in PM-induced toxicity in HUVECs. Moreover, gene expression confirmation of LIF, BCL2L1, CSF3, HMOX1, RPS6, PFKFB, CAPN1, HSPBP1, MOGS, PREB, TUBB2A, GABARAP by qRT-PCR indicated that endocytosis might be involved in the cellular uptake of PM by forming phagosomes, and subsequently inflammation, hypoxia and ER stress was occurred, which finally activated autophagy after PM exposure in HUVECs. In summary, our data can serve as fundamental research clues for further studies of PM-induced toxicity in HUVECs.