Gene expression profiling of Hfe-/- liver and duodenum in mouse strains with differing susceptibilities to iron loading: identification of transcriptional regulatory targets of Hfe and potential hemochromatosis modifiers

摘要

BackgroundHfe disruption in mouse leads to experimental hemochromatosis by a mechanism that remains elusive. Affymetrix GeneChip^® Mouse Genome 430 2.0 microarrays and bioinformatics tools were used to characterize patterns of gene expression in the liver and the duodenum of wild-type and Hfe-deficient B6 and D2 mice (two inbred mouse strains with divergent iron loading severity in response to Hfe disruption), to clarify the mechanisms of Hfe action, and to identify potential modifier genes.