Gene expression profiles and bioinformatics analysis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells exposed to PM2.5

Abstract

Cardiovascular system is demonstrated the main target of PM2.5 and the objective of this study was to explore the toxic effect and molecular mechanisms caused by PM2.5 in primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using microarray and bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that 591 genes were differentially expressed triggered by PM2.5, of which 174 genes were down-regulated, while 417 genes were up-regulated. Gene ontology analysis revealed that PM2.5 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 PM2.5-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 PM2.5 by forming phagosomes, and subsequently inflammation, hypoxia and ER stress was occurred, which finally activated autophagy after PM2.5 exposure in HUVECs. In summary, our data can serve as fundamental research clues for further studies of PM2.5-induced toxicity in HUVECs.