Cho, Yoon Song, Mi-Kyung Ryu, Jae-Chun 2024-01-19T15:31:17Z 2024-01-19T15:31:17Z 2021-09-02 2021-02-04 2167-8359 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/117417 Background. Numerous studies have investigated the relationship of environmental exposure, epigenetic effects, and human diseases. These linkages may contribute to the potential toxicity mechanisms of environmental chemicals. Here, we investigated the epigenetic pulmonary response of hexanal, a major indoor irritant, following inhalation exposure in F-344 rats. Methods. Based on DNA methylation profiling in gene promoter regions, we identified hexanal-characterized methylated sites and target genes using an unpaired t-test with a fold-change cutoff of >= 3.0 and a p-value < 0.05. We also conducted an integrated analysis of DNA methylation and mRNA expression data to identify core anti-correlated target genes of hexanal exposure. To further investigate the potential key biological processes and pathways of core DNA methylated target genes, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Results. Thirty-six dose-dependent methylated genes and anti-correlated target genes of DNA methylation and mRNA in lung tissue of hexanal exposed F-344 rats were identified. These genes were involved in diverse biological processes such as neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, protein kinase cascade, and intracellular signaling cascade associated with pulmonary toxicity. These results suggest that novel DNA methylation-based epigenetic biomarkers of exposure to hexanal and elucidate the potential pulmonary toxicological mechanisms of action of hexanal. English PEERJ INC GENE-EXPRESSION ENVIRONMENTAL EPIGENETICS DOSE-RESPONSE METHYLATION EXPOSURE IDENTIFICATION TOXICOGENOMICS TOXICOLOGY DISEASE RISK DNA methylome signatures as epigenetic biomarkers of hexanal associated with lung toxicity Article 10.7717/peerj.10779 1 PEERJ, v.9 PEERJ 9 scie scopus 000614622200004 2-s2.0-85100511127 Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics Article GENE-EXPRESSION ENVIRONMENTAL EPIGENETICS DOSE-RESPONSE METHYLATION EXPOSURE IDENTIFICATION TOXICOGENOMICS TOXICOLOGY DISEASE RISK DNA methylome Epigenetics Hexanal Aldehyde Lung toxicity