Gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of ulcerative colitis patients

摘要

AIM: To identify peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression profiles of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, using oligonucleotide microarrays, to gain insights into UC molecular mechanisms. METHODS: The Human OneArray microarrays were used for a complete genome-wide transcript profiling of PBMCs from 12 UC patients and 6 controls. Differential analysis per gene was performed with a random variance model; t test and P values were adjusted to control the false discovery rate (5%). Gene ontology (GO) was deployed to analyze differentially expressed genes at significant levels between patients and controls to identify the biological processes involved in UC. RESULTS: Comparative analysis revealed that 4438 probes (4188 genes) were differentially expressed between the two groups, of which 3689 probes (3590 genes) were down-regulated whereas 749 probes (598 genes) were up-regulated. Many disregulated genes in our data have been reported by previous microarray studies carried out on intestinal mucosa samples, such as S100A8 , CEACAM1 and S100A9 . GO enrichment analysis revealed 67 high enrichment up-regulated categories and one significant down-regulated category. The up-regulated genes were mainly involved in immune and inflammatory response, cell cycle and proliferation, DNA metabolism and repair. CONCLUSION: Gene expression profiling of PBMCs from patients with UC has highlighted several novel gene categories that could contribute to the pathogenesis of UC.