Differential expression of cell cycle related genes in PAH-exposed human liver cells

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most widespread organic pollutants, and they can cause changes in gene expression. Biochip based microarray technologies are useful for identifying the toxicity of environmental pollutants. In this study, we performed a microarray experiment to identify the effects of PAHs in human hepatoma cells using the HazChem human array V3. The cells were exposed for 48 hours to IC20 values of four PAH chemicals (benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, 3-methylcholanthrene, benzo[k]fluoranthene). Thirty of 1136 genes, which were related to the cell cycle based the ontology analysis, were commonly detected when cells were exposed to the four chemicals. Further analysis of the significantly expressed genes revealed that they affected the spindle check point. These results suggest that PAHs affect cell cycle regulation in humans.