Essential genes of the macrophage response to exposure.

BACKGROUND

Although significant advances have been made in understanding the mechanisms of macrophage response to infection, the molecular details are still elusive. Identification of the essential genes and biological processes of macrophages that are specifically changed at different durations of exposure is of great clinical significance.

METHODS

We aimed to identify the significantly changed genes and biological processes of -exposed macrophages. We systematically analyzed the macrophage gene expression profile GSE 13670 database with 8 h, 24 h or 48 h  infection. The results were further confirmed by western blot and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analyses.

RESULTS

After 8 h of infection, the expression of 624 genes was significantly changed. Six hundred thirteen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after 24 h of infection. Two hundred fifty-three genes were significantly changed after 48 h of infection. STAT1 was consistently up-regulated in these three treatments. , , , , , and were only identified in the 8 h or 24 h  infection groups. and were for the first time identified as potential essential genes in infection of macrophages. In the Gene Ontology (GO) term analysis, the defense response was shown to be the most significantly changed biological process among all processes; KEGG pathway analysis identified the JAK-STAT signaling pathway involved in early infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Our systematic analysis identified unique gene expression profiles and specifically changed biological processes of the macrophage response to different exposure times.